Concrete Angel
by WinterRepublic
Summary: Sirius held Harry for what was supposed to be the last time that night. Bared down with the blame of the Potters' death, he runs to the only family he has left…Billy Black...In Forks, Washington USA.
1. Like a Bird

_**Disclaimer:**__ If I really owned them, do you honestly think that Voldemort would have lost the war? Seriously though, do you want to hear my whinging about how __**I DON'T OWN THEM**__?_

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**Title:** Concrete Angel

**Pairing(s):** EC/HP, Few Cannon & Other

**Warning(s):** **Grand timeline changes**. Please don't bother me with it. Yes, I know the timeline is wrong, but I manipulated it for a reason. Jacob will still be two years younger than Bella but Harry will be one year younger than Bella and a little less than half a year older than Jacob instead of five years older than Bella and seven older than Jacob should it be cannon. **There will be some abuse and character death.** So be forewarned. I might change the genre later, but I really don't know where I'm going with this at the moment.

**Summary:** Sirius held Harry for what was supposed to be the last time that night. Bared down with the blame of the Potters' death, he runs to the only family he has left…Billy Black...In Forks, Washington USA.

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_~*~*~*~ __**Like a Bird**__ ~*~*~*~_

**x.X.x**

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**x.X.x **_…Like a bird…like a bird…_ x**.X.x**

He stood in a daze.

His hair whipped around his head in a broken halo. It was as if the world just stopped her spinning and let all the winds she left behind catch up. How'd he end up here? Tears found their way to the eyes already lined with lines of laughter and smiles; now lined with weariness and sadness. He knew that he could be stronger, but he didn't want to be strong tonight.

The night was flaxen like the dust kicked up after a storm or childish tumbling on the dirty ground. The ruins of a once beautiful house stood imperiously before the yellowed clouds; burning with a passion that no man could ever recreate alone. The flames roared with a brazen vigor; whispering the sounds of past laughter into the blackened sky; taking with it, the life of those who lasted not nearly long enough.

The Aurors had arrived. The Order had come. It was all in vain as the ground shook with a force great enough to bowel even the sturdiest man to the ground. The second floor of the once beautiful white house had collapsed. People were yelling and screaming out orders. A hand landed on Sirius' shoulder and shoved him forward. He couldn't hear what they were telling him. The flames were slowly dying; their dance slowing to small bursts with the wind.

A light flashed and there was James standing in the doorway, waving at him to come inside. The house looked like it always had. The outside was a pearly white and the front hall was a soft slate yellow-gray. The wooden floors shined with the light reflecting off of them. Lily always kept her house spotless. She always liked the shine that the muggle way of cleaning left behind. It was something she would never give up, just like cooking. In the background he could see Lily standing there with little Harry, waving at him. Harry was smiling, his green eyes glittering with happiness. Another flash and it faded.

"Move it Black! Check for any survivors!"

Sirius felt as if he had gained a before-denied access to his limbs and was propelled forward with the command. There had to be someone alive in here! James was a trained Auror and Lily…well Lily could hold her own in a duel. They couldn't be dead, they would never—! Lily was a monster when it came to Harry's safety. Voldemort would have been the one who was running away in fear. Anyway, Lily was training to become a Healer.

Pulling at fallen wood, Sirius felt something cut into his hand. The pain just refused to register in his head as he continued to dig through the rubble. Jagged rocks were pulled from their places and splintery wood was yanked from their hiding. Sirius could hear someone speaking to him and from the corner of his eye he could see Albus standing there with Remus. His werewolf friend was saying something to him. Something about blood…Sirius ignored him and continued to dig frantically.

"James! Lily!" Somebody was yelling…was that him? He sounded so far away…

"Sirius," Remus grabbed hold of the bloodied hands, "They're gone Siri…James and Lily are gone."

Sirius pulled his hands from Remus' grasp and continued to plow through the mess, "Harry! What about Harry?!"

Yanking out a plank of fallen wood, Sirius heard a creaking sound. A gust of dusty air blew into his face. Yes! There had to be some sort of space in there! If there was even a small chance of Harry living, he wouldn't let it fly from his grasp. A small baby blue blanket came into view only moments later. It was shredded, a long strip of it leading under the unstable, precariously sitting cave.

"Harry…?" A small cry answered him, "Here!" Sirius called, "He's here!"

Blue robed Aurors surrounded the spot and began casting safe spells. Remus gently tugged Sirius away from the small opening, giving the Aurors a chance to extract the boy safely. He pulled Sirius into his arms, tucking the dirt matted head beneath his chin as the taller man slumped in relief and sadness.

"He's alive," Sirius whispered, "He's alive."

Remus didn't answer his friend and closed his eyes. Instead he held him tighter in some sense that maybe if he held him like this, then this would all be a dream and when he opened his eyes, everything would go back to being normal. Sirius was no killer. He didn't betray the Potters. He couldn't—wouldn't—believe that. All the signs pointed to Sirius as the culprit though and this hurt more than the werewolf would admit. He believed in Sirius, but it was so hard to refute the facts that were stacked against him.

"Got 'im!" Hagrid's booming voice echoed across the lot.

The sound of the small area caving in followed these words. Remus held tighter to Sirius, preventing him from turning to the sound. He trembled in the werewolf's arms, letting Remus know just what he was thinking.

"He's fine."

"I want to see him…"

Before Remus could protest, Sirius had pulled away from him and had caught sight of Harry; his beautiful, gorgeous, godson. Sirius moved forward to get to Harry. Aurors surrounded the man, newly named convict, and restrained his hands, snatching his wand away.

"What's going on?!" Sirius whipped his head to look back at Remus who refused to meet his eyes, "Moony…?"

An Auror drew Sirius' attention when he began to speak, "Sirius Black, you have been charged with the murders of one James Potter and one Lillian Potter nee Evans. The penalty, by law, is a life sentence in Azkaban Prison."

"What?!" Sirius struggled, breaking free of the Aurors' hold. He managed one arm free, blasting the other with stray, uncontrollable magic from his free hand, "Albus?" Dumbledore turned away, pretending not to hear his name be called, "Look at me Albus!"

Dumbledore turned just as Sirius caught up to his stride. "Mr. Black."

"I didn't do it Albus. You know I didn't do it!" Sirius raged.

"I…I cannot dissuade their decision. I have already tried."

"So you're willing to let them throw me into prison without a trial? A trial that already happened before this even took place?!"

"Now, Sirius," the Headmaster chided, "You must understand…"

Sirius' shoulders slumped. He knew. Dumbledore knew. Dumbledore knew that something would happen and still…and still he would allow Sirius to rot in Azkaban. Then…what would happen to Harry; his beautiful little Harry? The only relatives that any of them had that would take in the boy were dead. Lily had family even if it was only her sister Petunia.

The thing that skewed that picture was that Petunia hated anything and everything that had to do with her sister Lily. She would most definitely not accept a child of Lily's womb that could possibly have extracted Lily's…what had she called it…freakishness? Sirius could already imagine the horrors that she and her family would put Harry through. Surly this wasn't where Albus planned to send Harry?

"Give him to me."

"Sirius?"

"Just…give him to me."

Albus looked over at the devastated man in worn blue Auror robes. Instead of charging after Pettigrew like Albus knew he wanted—like Albus wanted—he had stayed behind to dig through the ruins to find his godson of only barely a year. His hands were bloodied and shaking, testament to the digging he had done to find the boy.

Hagrid was looking uneasily at Sirius. He was one of the many who thought that Sirius had betrayed the Potters, but who, besides Sirius himself, was there to refute that fact? The only people who would have known for sure were already dead. Eying the broken man once again, Dumbledore nodded his head to Hagrid.

Let Sirius hold the child.

This would be the last chance he'd ever get to do so.

_**x.X.x **…Like an island you can't reach….** x.X.x**_

Bright green eyes stared up at Sirius through Lily's lashes. Dust settled on the soft wild locks of James' hair, brushing it a light brownish color. The rosy color of Lily's cheeks was smudged lightly with the dirt from the air. Lily's lips formed a bubbly smile beneath a mixture of her and James' nose. Harry had a nose all his own. Sirius' hand curled around Lily's fingers; the hand Harry had wrapped around his finger. Smiling, Sirius leaned down to kiss the soft skin.

"You look just like James and Lily Beautiful-gorgeous." Harry gurgled happily, "Yes, I know, but I got to leave you…with Dumbledore…" As if sensing Sirius' sadness like his own, Harry began to whine and Sirius briefly wondered if Harry attached himself to Sirius as a baby to a mother. Tucking the small body to his chest, Sirius began to tell Harry a story.

"You know, your mother was an awful cook; James old me often enough. He used to tell me that the only person who got food 'fit for a king' was you. Lily would always warm your milk to perfection, often leaving dinner to overcook or in some cases: burn. Maybe it was just me, but I believe he was exaggerating to some extent. She was bad, but not _that_ bad…She was so good with you Harry. I don't think I've ever seen her so happy since the day you came out of her belly."

Harry's tiny fingers curled into Sirius' robes and hair, gently pulling, "Pa'foo'?"

Chuckling, Sirius untangled the hand in his hair, "I often told Lily that I would take you somewhere far away one day to meet the 'sane' part of my family. I promised her: this Christmas, I'd take her to meet them. James would tag along just for the ride. He had his hands full with protecting you, you know. He loved you _that_ much…We came up with the passports and everything. We were going to go by muggle transportation so that no one from the Wizarding World would be able to track us. You know, 'once a wizard, think like a wizard for all time?' Well…I guess that was more of what Lily thought, but I'm not saying that it was wrong. Lily was a brilliant witch. "

The tiny hands reached up again, this time to pat Sirius's cheek. Harry babbled out some nonsense that Sirius couldn't understand but, for a moment, he could almost swear that Harry was telling him something important. Perhaps it was the Black inbreeding that led him to believe it…or maybe he was just too depressed to care.

"I can't understand a word you're saying," Sirius chuckled softly, "would you care to elaborate?"

For a moment, Harry looked just like an indignant Lily. He had the most adorable pout on his face, although Sirius would never mention this out loud to anyone. The yawn that was produced ruined the indignant look on the tiny baby and the breath tickled some of the hair on the older man's face. This made Sirius smile.

In a short distance, only the Order members who know what was going on had stayed behind. That left only Severus, Remus, Dumbledore, Minerva and Hagrid. The Aurors that would take Sirius into custody were standing at a distance, setting up a perimeter presumably, if Sirius tried to escape. Although Sirius might try to escape, the run-down man looked anything but strong enough to escape—not one to twenty fully trained Aurors.

Hagrid shuffled restlessly. The groundskeeper really didn't know the full story, he just knew that he had to take Harry and take him to the location that Dumbledore planned. He was kind of disappointed that Sirius would betray his closest friend. He'd known James and Sirius in school and the two were inseparable…how could Sirius ever do such a thing? Just looking at the way Sirius was holding Harry and whispering to the child made Hagrid wish he could rethink taking the baby away though. Harry was, after all, supposed to go to Sirius should anything happen to the Potters. It wasn't really fair that Sirius didn't get a trial, but it wasn't his place to go against Dumbledore.

Both Minerva and Severus, surprisingly, were adamant about Albus taking the child away from Sirius. It wasn't that Severus suddenly grown to like the Black, but he really didn't see why the boy, Lily's son, had to be taken away and given to muggles. He knew firsthand how horrible muggles could be to magical children, especially when it came down to Lily's sister. Minerva was just really a stickler for the rules. She knew for a fact that Sirius had not betrayed the Potters. He was stupid, but he was not _that_ stupid. After all of her years teaching him, she knew that he would rather die for his friends than give them away. She hated the fact that an innocent man was going to be thrown in jail and that Harry would go to horrible people.

Remus glanced at Dumbledore briefly before returning his gaze back to his longtime friend. He didn't know whether to believe Sirius or Dumbledore for the man never led him astray. Sirius was gently chatting with Harry like the baby was actually forming sentences and talking back. It was cute and sad at the same time. It showed how much he loved his godson and it also showed how hard it was on the man to let him go. Remus had grown up with Sirius. He'd known the boy come man since they were eleven. How had things gone so far downhill?

"Take Harry, Remus. It is time."

The werewolf felt his heart clench at those words. Had it really come down to this? Was there no other way? Remus didn't answer as his feet began to move of their own accord. If Padfoot was innocent, then surly it would have some to light before all of this, right? It could not have been anyone else. James didn't trust anyone else that much—Sirius was like his other half.

Remus's feet carried him till he was standing right next to Sirius and one babbling Harry. His chest constricted when he heard the half-conversation, "Sirius."

For a man who has never cried so much in his life, Sirius sure had a lot of tears right now. In fact, he had more than enough to share for him and Harry both, "I don't want to Moony…he's all I've got left…"

"It has to be done Padfoot. You're a convicted murderer…" Remus spoke the last words with a heavy heart, "Harry cannot stay with you."

"I-I can't…" Sirius buried his sobs in Harry's small, soft tummy.

Harry whimpered and softly slapped his hands against Sirius's head, "Ma no…ti…"

"I'm so sorry Harry," Sirius hugged the babe tighter, "I'm so sorry!"

Almost as if Harry _knew_, he began to wail, "No bai!"

Remus reached out to take Harry from Sirius's relaxed grip when Sirius decided to suddenly tighten his hold and turn away, "Please…Moony, just…just give me a few more minutes….I just need a few more minutes…"

"I can't do that Sirius. Harry has to go now." He took a deep breath, "You…you have to go now."

"No bai! Ma bai!" Harry waved his little fists into the air.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" Sirius half-sobbed, half-mumbled, "I couldn't save you…"

Harry's feet kicked at Moony's hands as he reached forward again. Didn't he understand? Sirius needed him! "Moo'y…no…moo'y no…"

"I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you…"

In all of his years, Remus Lupin had never quite felt so hurt. While it wasn't by the actions of Sirius, or the magical injuries, it was by his own actions. While reaching out to Harry once more, a magical surge as big as the one that brought down the Potters house, was let loose—enough to level the entire village of Godric's Hollow.

The Aurors had looked ahead and set a perimeter, but weren't really prepared for what had happened next. It prevented Sirius from escaping…and it also prevented the release of pure magic from escaping. The only ones left standing were Sirius and Remus.

Said werewolf looked around at the devastation around himself. The man that was once his best friend was standing with a whimpering Harry cradled to his chest. Remus honestly couldn't tell you what he wanted anymore had anyone asked. At that moment, instead of seeing a man and child, he saw a desperate soul holding onto its last strand of hope. Sirius turned away from Remus and began to walk away.

Lupin lifted his wand in a shaky hand and fired off a random spell. He wasn't sure that it hit, but with that spell, it felt like the last of his magic left him. Truly, Sirius Black was a strong man to have done what he did… and Lupin found that couldn't even have stopped this battered soul if he wanted to.

"I'm…so sorry…I couldn't protect you…"

There was nothing but the wind to answer his hushed whisper and suddenly, the world went black...

**x.X.x **_…I know I'm stronger than you think… _**x.X.x**

William Black.

He found the number in an old leather bound book that was stashed away in his old potion's room at Grimmuld Place. Tucked away in a small corner, Sirius pulled out a phone. This was one of the many skeletons in the Black family closet. He didn't mind it so much since it was rather convenient right now. Better than risking Gringotts or muggle streets alone anyway. The Blacks were a narcissistic and twisted family with dark secrets that would very well break them down.

"Alright men! Spread out! You four: go check upstairs! The rest of you: check the ground floor and below; he couldn't have gotten that far!"

He tucked Harry tightly to his chest. He was glad that Harry knew the importance of being quiet at the moment, since he hadn't made a peep since they had apparated away. Above them, footsteps and voices clearly rang out. It must be the Aurors or the Order. It didn't really matter, either way he would find himself in Azkaban if either of them found him. He just wanted to protect his baby more than anything.

Yes. Harry was _his_ now. He couldn't exactly tell you when the thought struck him, but it did. And he wasn't ready to give it up. Call it the Black insanity from too much inbreeding if you will. Call it depression or guilt, but it didn't matter at all now. Harry was _his_ and he wasn't going to give him up. Harry was his son now. Sirius believed this so much that he could almost envision himself giving birth to Harry.

"You three: check the basement! I want every millimeter of this place combed for that traitor!"

Sirius breathed in Harry's sweet baby sigh as he held the receiver up to his ear. He dialed in the eleven numbers from the page he ripped from the book. He made sure it was a clean tear so no one could track him. Still, he decided to _incendio_ the book to eliminate the fact that they would ever get their hands on it.

Three rings were all it took before the phone was answered. The voice on the other side was groggy and rough, like the person had just woken from a restless nap. Sirius could also hear a baby whimpering in the background.

"Hello?"

For a moment, Sirius wasn't quite sure what to say. So long had it been since the last time he heard that voice. So long it had been since he saw the face that matched the voice. What should he say? How would the voice react?

"Hello? I'm going to hang up…"

"Wait…please…" Sirius whispered.

"What? Who is this?" Came the gruff reply.

Sirius forced a broken chuckle, "You don't remember me Billy?"

"Who is this? What do you want? I don't want—!"

"Surely even you can place my voice. After all, you used to tease me about it mercilessly whenever I went to visit."

A long pause and a bit of shuffling was heard on the other end of the line, "Hmm…Sirius…? Sirius you old sod! I haven't heard from you in a long time! How's it been? How is England?"

"I…Bill—" Sirius swallowed the lump in his throat as his voice cracked.

"Sirius? What's wrong? You sound awful."

What could he say? That he was a convict on the run? That some madman tried to send his son to deplorable muggles? Sirius let out a choked sob.

"I…they—they're gone Billy…!"

"Who—your friends?"

"I don't know what to do! I didn't do it—you have to believe me…I didn't do it…"

"What? Boy, you've got to calm down; I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"I didn't do it…I tried…I really did…but they're gone now…"

"Are you talking about that man you brought with you the last time you visited?"

"They're going to take him away…I've got to go now…they're going to take him away…"

"Dammit! Now hold on a minute Sirius Orion Black—!"

The rest of the sentence was cut as Sirius put down the phone. He cast a light sleeping charm over Harry and pulled the blanket over his head. He looked at the paper in his hand once more and committed the address to memory. He cast a small _incendio_ on the paper and set it down next to the phone. Casting another spell at the phone, he reached over and clutched a portkey tightly to himself and Harry.

He waited.

A small click on the other side alerted Billy to the cut connection. He held the phone for a few more minutes before he replaced the receiver back into the cradle. Something terrible must have happened to cause his cousin to break like this. Never had he heard the man sound so bad in his life. Not even when Sirius was laid out with the Wizard's Flu could you hear his laughter stop ringing. What could have happened to cause the man to fall so hard?

A small tug on his pant leg pulled him from his musings. He looked down and spotted his son all covered in a sweet-smelling, sticky goo. As he picked the overactive child up he smiled, "Let's go find out whatever they gave you this time, hm?"

**x.X.x **_…Like a bird or an island you can't reach… _**x.X.x**

He was sitting on his front porch having a smoke when it happened. A sudden flash; gone as quickly as it had come and a body falling straight to the ground. Now, Billy Black wasn't an overly suspicious man, but when it came to someone arriving like that on his property, then he had found every right to be.

Only wizards and witches ever arrived by portkey. The telltale crack of apparation was not heard, so he could only assume that a portkey is what it was. But wizards never kept up with their squibs, so who could have landed not half a mile from his house?

Billy rose from where he sat when the body made no further moves since it hit the ground. He thought about Sirius's phone call earlier that day and quickly made his way over. Could it be? But why? What happened to drive that man this far? When he entered the tall grass, he searched the grounds…but nothing was there.

Turning back, Billy went inside.

Sirius rolled over and threw off the old cloak covering himself and Harry. Harry had not woken at their departure and still slept during their arrival. The ragged man sighed. Harry's face was bunched up in discomfort as he slept. Standing, Sirius felt a wave of dizziness sweep over him. Maybe he used too much magic back at Godric's Hollow…

Moving unsteadily over the terrain, Sirius trekked up to the small house that he remembered from his childhood. It was red and black with a white porch on the front and a smaller one out back. The house was small, too small for all of them to live comfortably, but if anything, Sirius had to get Harry in there—where it was safe. No matter what.

Leaning heavily against the door jamb, he knocked. It took a while, but a light flickered on in the window by him and the door opened. Tuscan, sun-kissed skin came into view. He followed the arms, chest, shoulders and raven black hair to a very familiar face.

The person in the doorway dropped whatever he had in his hand and stumbled forward. He couldn't believe his eyes. The man looked so worn for wear. His hair was matted with dirt and god knows what else. The robes he wore, for that's what they were, were torn asunder and hung in shambles here and there on the bruised and bloodied form.

The baby in the man's arms looked dirty, but unharmed save for the deep cut on its forehead. The tiny face was scrunched in discomfort but nothing else looked out of place. The arms around the babe tightened and Billy raised his eyes back towards the haggard face of the man on his front porch. The man swayed a little.

"…Sirius?"

"Billy…I…"

"Well? Get inside this house boy! You'll catch your death out there!"

**x.X.x**

_TBC_

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**A/N:**

I know, I know. I shouldn't start something new with _Silent Witness _out but I was feeling kind of put out with that one. I'm currently facing a block and don't know where to go with chapter four. It's weird because I have half of chapter four, but already I have five completely done.

Ah, anyway. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I had this story running around my head for the better part of the month and finally decided to write it down. While I was surfing FFN, I came across AbNaGbEyL's profile and stumbled across her "Harry Black" challenge.

I decided that even though I was going to write before I found it, the credit all goes to her for that challenge actually encouraged me to post. You guys should go check it out of you have time. I might choose a few of her other challenges as well. They're really good for if you're in a rut.


	2. Unknown Soldier

**A/N:** LATE. Yeah, this took a while in coming. Honestly, there was a lot that I wanted to put in this chapter, but it wouldn't all fit. I had to edit a lot and take out quite a bit, but overall I think this chapter went well. In hindsight, I should have left a few things out until the next chapter, but I couldn't resist.

This chapter will be very disjointed and it may be confusing to some of you. I'm sorry, but it was written like this for a reason. I had to basically skip over the times where nothing of importance really happened. So, only the important events of Harry's childhood are highlighted here.

**I'm very flattered that so many people have taken a liking to this story. Really, I am.** I couldn't believe how much my inbox had gotten flooded with your alerts and reviews. I think I cried a little and got all big headed. I think I had danced for joy because I swear my mum called me crazy in that short span. Thank you, thank you, thank you~3

**Chapter Specific Warning(s):** Minor time-jumps occur. This chapter is dark. I admit that the whole story has some elements, but relative to this chapter specifically. Mild abusive situations and mental development challenges are present. Character death ensues.

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_~*~*~*~*Unknown Soldier*~*~*~*~_

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**x.X.x**_ …border line…dead inside…_** x.X.x**

Something was not right.

"_Remus! Oh, god, Moony…I-I'm sorry…I'm so sorry! It wasn't me!"_

"_Now, now, my boy. It's over and done. We need to—"_

"_Please don't send me to Azkaban! I swear to Merlin that it wasn't me!"_

"_Silence you pest! That'll be the only place that'll take you!"_

"_Severus!"_

"_How could you do this?!"_

Brows knitted together in confusion.

"_Remus! Oh, god, Remus…I swear it wasn't me…"_

There it goes again. Was he dreaming?

"Lupin."

Remus opened his eyes to find himself in an obscure room at Hogwarts. Something itched at his subconscious, telling him that something about this placement was not right. He didn't know what it was exactly, but then again, he didn't even remember how or why he had come to be in an infirmary in the first place.

"Nice to see you finally grace us with your ungainly presence."

"Now see here Severus!"

Those respectively sneering and chastising voices sounded so familiar and sure enough, when Remus turned to the owners of those voices, he came face to face with Snape and McGonagall. The old Headmistress didn't even have a slight twinkle in those dull eyes.

"Minerva…Severus…" Remus croaked. The other man rolled his eyes and thrust a glass under Remus's nose. Accepting it kindly he continued, "What happened?"

Snape glared at Remus, "You don't remember?"

Lupin closed his eyes, "I…no…I don't think so…"

"What's the last thing you remember then?"

"I…" Remus scratched his chin, "I saw Sirius…he kept scratching his arm. He was saying something about James and Lily." Everything clicked, "Oh, god, James…Lily...Sirius! Sirius and Harry! Where's Harry?!"

Severus stared at the distraught man on the bed hard. In just a few short moments, he had lost everything—his friends—family and even his pseudo-godson. He almost felt sorry for Remus at that moment. Almost.

"Black took the boy and disappeared."

"What?"

"You heard me. After Black let loose his magic, he fled the country."

"He…Minerva?"

The witch who was quiet up until then couldn't look him in the eye. She smiled kindly at him but it didn't reach even halfway to her tired-looking eyes.

"It's true I'm afraid."

"But he couldn't have gotten far! We could—"

"He did well to cover his tracks so even if he did used any magical means at all, we could never find it."

"What do you mean? He used muggle ways to escape?"

"We're not sure, but we're betting everything on it that he did."

"Lily was the only muggleborn he knew. She wouldn't have conspired with him on anything like this—ways to escape I mean."

"They didn't have to necessarily be used to escape, but it could have aided him in the escape."

"But Sirius wouldn't think about it like that."

Snape snorted, "My sentiments exactly."

"What about Grimmuld?" Remus ignored the jibe.

"We anticipated he'd go there too, but it was empty."

"But Grimmuld—it's the only place he'd go to…"

"We sent Aurors, Remus."

"And you couldn't find a single trace of magic?"

"None."

"Why didn't _you_ go? Or someone of the Order? You know his magic enough to distinguish it in that old house!"

McGonagall refused to meet his eyes as she answered, "The whole complex was burnt to the ground. There were no survivors."

Remus was breathing heavily by now, "Then what about the trial? James…?"

"Well," Minerva turned to leave, "We caught a rat if that is what you wish to know."

The werewolf stared after the woman in confusion, "A rat? What is she talking about?"

Snape sighed disgustedly, causing Lupin to start. He had almost forgotten the other man was still there. Snape just glared at the wolf.

"We caught Pettigrew by sheer luck after Black got away. He was to be tried the moment you awakened. Now that you've finally gotten yourself together, the Headmaster wishes to see you."

Snape stood to leave just as Poppy came out of her office with some potions in her hands. Remus took each potion without complaint as he stared after the dour man. He knew no matter how nasty Severus may be he would never lie to Remus—not when the truth hurt so much more. Was Sirius innocent? What had Peter done?

**o0o**

The trip to the Headmaster's office was a long and tedious one. Remus clasped his hands behind his back and pondered everything he'd picked up from those past few days and hours. Everything had gone downhill so fast.

Wormtail was the traitor. He had to be. Oh, god. And Sirius tried to tell him too. Then, why didn't the Potters trust him enough to know? Sure, there was a greater risk, but knowing would be better in situations like this. At that point, you only believed what you're told.

It's not like there was anything documenting that they had appointed a new secret keeper. If they _had_ left something, it would all have been lost to the magical fire or destroyed when the house collapsed. This was something beyond anything that they could have foreseen.

Remus thought back to the day before. Was there any sign that this was going to happen? There had to have been something pointing to this. Even Voldemort couldn't have done something so unpredictable and crazy. This was not like him. Sure a prophesy had been made, but Voldemort didn't believe in those. So then why…? What made him do what he did?

Nothing was out of the ordinary. Earlier that day, Wormtail had stopped by to question after his wellbeing. The poor man seemed to have been spooked out his mind. Remus had chalked it up to war. Sirius had come to speak with him closer to the evening. He was a bit jumpy, but, again, this was war, he had every right to be.

The entrance to the Headmaster's office loomed in his vision.

"Ah, Remus, so nice of you to join us. Please, have a seat."

There were a lot of people crowded into the office. Moody and a few Aurors including but not limited to Tonks, Shacklebolt and a few nameless faces were there. Arthur Weasley and his wife Molly were both there as was Bones and a few other recognizable faces. Peter Pettigrew was among this group as well, despite his very different reasons for being so. He even saw Alice Longbottom standing with her mother over in the corner holding her son Neville.

It pinched the wolf's heart to not see Lily there doing the same thing.

Albus stood once Remus took a seat, "Now that everyone who could make it is here, I'd like to take this time to go over a few things." He wasted no time in breaking the news, "Frank Longbottom and the Potters have been murdered."

"Are you sure Albus?"

"What?!"

"How many times have you checked?"

"No! You've got to be lying!"

"Please tell me this isn't true!"

"And 'Arry? What about 'Arry?

"I won't believe it until I see their bodies!"

"Their son Albus? What happened to their son?"

Cries and shouts burst forth from every corner of the room. Even the ones who were on the scene looked pressed to accept what they had been there to partially witness. The Potters were such good people and Frank was an irreplaceable man. Albus raised a hand to quiet the room. It still amazed people how he could silence a room with no words at all.

"Their locations were under _fidelus_ which means that their locations were given away by a traitor. At the time we erected the wards, the secret keeper was Sirius Black." A few whispers broke out in the small crowd, "What we all did not know was that they had changed the keeper at the last minute. It was changed to Peter Pettigrew."

"The boy Albus! What happened to the boy!"

Everyone was so intent on questioning Albus and the other Order members who had been there that they didn't notice as Moody set his sights on Alice. They all cringed at the sudden malice and disgust rolling from his lips as he snapped at the woman.

"Is this true?"

The woman flinched and held her son closer. She didn't answer and this seemed to alert Moody and a few other seasoned members to note that something about the Longbottoms changing their secret keeper was not right. Why did they need to change keepers when Sirius was Potter's best friend, not Longbottom's? Moody whipped out his wand.

"Is. This. True."

"W-we had no other choice. It was the best thing to do at the time. Sirius was too obvious a choice for the Potters."

"Then what was your reason?" Minerva asked gently, "Why did you change yours to Peter as well?"

A terrifying look passed behind Alice's eyes. She looked around herself as if looking for someone who might leap out and lop off her tongue. She shook her head and burrowed further back into her still silent mother.

"Can't you tell us why, Alice?" Albus asked.

Alice began to cry. She shook and trembled, almost dropping her son as she fell to her knees on the floor. She looked so small and insignificant then. Perhaps if she had curled into a ball they wouldn't notice her.

"Just tell us why you changed your keeper."

"B-Because Sirius told us to."

**x.X.x **_…I don't mind…falling to pieces…_** x.X.x**

He was walking down a hall. There were many doors, each with their own name—so many doors. Something told him that whatever was written on the door was what lay behind it. He couldn't see an end in sight. Glancing up at one of the marked doors, he froze.

Dumbledore, Moody, Shacklebolt, Tonks, Lupin…there was a name on every door for every person he knew in life. Lucius, Snape, Wormtail, Bones, Lovegood, Bellatrix, Regulus, Narcissa, Frank, Alice…everyone.

But…there was only one name he was looking for. Only one. Which one was it? He'd know it if he saw it, but right now he couldn't remember who it was. The name was so important but he couldn't even remember why.

James Potter.

That's what the door said.

This was it. This was the door he was looking for. But why? Why was it so important? What was this man to him? His chest hurt, but he couldn't place the feeling. Where did he know this man from? Why did it hurt so much to see this name?

Suddenly, the door went transparent and he could see a small sitting room. A brown-haired, hazel-eyed man with wire-framed glasses was sitting there. He had a book open in his lap—a fire dancing merrily in the grate. The answer hit him like a ton of bricks.

That was James Potter. The boy come man he grew up with. This was his brother, his mother, his lover—his friend. He was just sitting there reading like nothing out of the ordinary was going on. Perhaps there wasn't. He looked so unconcerned…and _alive_.

Sirius bit his lip and walked closer. He placed his hands over the door's surface lightly. James looked up towards Sirius briefly and frowned. Sirius smiled and waved a little. James just shook his head and went back to reading his book. Why couldn't he see?

And then Voldemort was there.

Sirius was banging on the door—trying to get James's attention. There was no handle to grasp and his hand kept slipping across the smooth expanse. Voldemort was smirking at him in a secretive way—like there was a secret in this morbid scene that Sirius should have known.

But he didn't.

No.

Not him.

…And then there was blood.

Voices were all around him—inside him—accusing and praising. Why did the accusations sound so wrong? He could hear the approving words of his mother—how accusing Dumbledore sounded. Remus was crying and Lily…Lily was crying too.

So much blood…

There was a whisper in his ear. He couldn't understand it, but he knew it was something important. He couldn't hear it though. No matter how hard he listened, it seemed like it didn't matter. All that mattered at that moment was getting James out of there.

Someone was screaming…

**o0o**

"Sirius! Sirius, wake up!"

Said man jerked awake. His screams died down, but someone else was screaming—still crying in his head. Why wouldn't it stop? His chest constricted. Another unidentifiable wave of emotion washed over him.

Harry.

Sirius sat up quickly and shifted through the blankets and sheets he found himself tangled up in. He began to panic when he didn't see Harry straight away. Where was Harry? Where did he put his baby?

"Harry?! Harry—where are you?!"

Ignoring the aches in his body, Sirius leapt up from the bed. There was a woman standing there. She had that same beautiful tuscan-brown skin and raven hair as his cousin Billy. Her face looked vaguely familiar to him, but at that moment, it didn't matter. He had to find his little Harry.

He grasped her shoulders tightly, resisting the urge to shake her, "Harry! Where is my baby?!"

The door clicked open and a harsh rustling sound was heard. It was accompanied by footsteps and a few words of harsh reprimand, but Sirius heard none of it. His hands trembled on the woman's shoulder and for a moment, he thought he felt water under his wounding fingers.

"Sirius, you're tired, you need to rest—" The woman started.

"Where is he?! He's crying! What have you done with him? I can hear him crying—he _needs_ me!"

Billy's voice boomed in the small room, "Sirius! Sirius! Calm down I have him right here."

The older man held Harry out gently, knowing Sirius only had eyes for the boy at the moment. Sirius noted the arms holding Harry, but didn't give them a second thought as he pulled the squalling child to his chest. The man and woman winced at the harsh treatment, but didn't say anything.

"Harry…oh god Harry…I thought I had lost you…"

Falling back to the bed, Sirius buried his face in Harry's waving arms. The baby calmed just as the tension ran from Sirius's frame. The man slumped into the bed like an old rag doll. He looked so broken then. Like someone had leant over and cut loose all of the strings holding him up.

Billy made sure to make no sudden movements as he reached for his wife's hand. He gently tugged her from the room and into the small hallway. He only glanced back as he shut the door softly. Sirius would be fine for a little bit.

"Adsila…" Billy started.

"Don't _asgaya_…please don't…"

Both Billy and his wife stood in oppressing silence for a few minutes. Billy watched the crescent-shaped marks on his wife's shoulders trickle blood slower and slower—the air drying the thick liquid. Soft words broke the silence.

"He feels so…_nukpana_…I don't know how to describe it, but he feels very dark."

Billy sighed, "He is upset _agehya_. He just lost everything. The _ashkii_ is all he has left."

Adsila turned her head away and wrapped her arms around herself, "Yes. But you did not see his eyes. This was not the man you introduced me to those years past."

"_Agehya_…" Billy tried, "He is just a man. He is desperate for the only thing he has left of his friends and family."

"He is not a man!"

"Adsila! You will take that back this instant! What's wrong with you?"

Adsila rubbed her arms harshly, "He has **changed**_ asgaya_. He has become something that even he may not know himself. It is almost like there is a bad _achak_ in his chest."

"Enough Adsila—you will watch him as part of the family. He is family and we will not throw him out on his knees."

"I will watch him _asgaya_. I will watch the little _ashkii_, but the _askook_ is your responsibility. I do not trust him as you do." She reached out a hand to Billy, but retracted it halfway there, "I cannot trust him as you do."

Before Billy could respond, Adsila walked downstairs—her arms wrapped tightly around her body.

**x.X.x **_…count me in…violent…_** x.X.x**

"Give him the _vertiserum_." Albus sighed, "It is all we can do."

Peter leapt up from his seat but did not attempt to leave the room, "Wait! Please, not that. Not _vertiserum_. I'll tell you the truth, you have my word!"

"Yes, but my boy, that is exactly what we cannot trust at the moment."

"Then a Wizard's Oath, I cannot break it or I will be killed."

"There are ways to cheat it."

"I-If you give me _vertiserum_…I'll die! Surely I will!"

"Nonsense, you can't die from a harmless potion." Severus snapped harshly.

The balding man slumped back into his chair, "But you don't understand! There was this spell—we all had to drink this potion—you must believe me!"

Snape looked to the Headmaster who hesitated but shook his head, "Proceed."

Pettigrew took the potion without fighting, making everyone doubt his words. But he was trembling so badly in his seat that they couldn't really dispel his words as lies either.

"Who gave away the Potters' and Longbottoms' location?"

"S-Sirius did…"

"Liar!" Remus shouted, "How are you doing that?! How can you still blame Sirius for this while you're under _vertiserum_?!"

"Remus, please…" Albus tried.

"No Albus! This can't be right."

"I brewed the damn thing myself Lupin." Severus snarled.

"But still!"

"Why do you say that Sirius did this Peter? Aren't you a deatheater? You have the mark on your arm."

Peter slouched in his seat, his teeth clenching tightly over his betraying tongue, blood began pooling in his mouth before he was forced to speak again, "Because I am not a deatheater."

"What do you mean? The mark is plain as day on your arm."

The man shook his head, "It's not real."

Remus watched in abject horror as Pettigrew scratched deeply at the mark on his arm. He spelled away the remains of the scratches as his fingernails drew a well of red and black. Underneath his fingernails revealed something that they never would have guessed.

There was no mark.

"How did you do that?"

"It wasn't a real mark. It was a muggle type of ink that stains when under the skin. But due to being a wizard, the ink doesn't dry. A needle was used to press it beneath my skin, but not deep enough that I couldn't remove it."

"Why would you need to remove it?"

"So that when the deed was done, I could go home and scratch it off my arm. The blame wouldn't be on me then."

"Are you saying that this whole thing was a set-up? What was the whole plan?"

"The deatheaters, once the position was revealed, were supposed to go to-to the location only to seek and render helpless. Their orders were not to kill, but only harm. They were sup-posed to…supposed t-to…"

Peter trailed off and his eyes glazed over. A light sheen of sweat covered his face that had twisted into fear. Remus walked over to his old friend and shook him slightly by his shoulder. When he didn't respond Lupin tried again.

"Peter…?"

A hand shot out to grab Remus by his shirt. He cried out and tried to pull away but the grip on his shirt was too strong. The Aurors trained their wands on the man but he still did not let go. Instead he leaned forward and spoke no louder than a whisper.

"I-It's starting…"

Lupin leaned in closer to hear the words that were nearly silent at the end. A small gurgling noise was emitted from the back of Pettigrew's throat. Remus frowned and looked between the parted lips at something bubbling at the back of the man's throat.

The werewolf looked over his shoulder at the other occupants in the room. They were all holding their breaths and leaning in to see what had happened. Remus looked back to Peter's face and leaned back in slowly.

A small squeak erupted from the balding man's throat. Remus stared in horror as the bubbling lump in the back of the other man's throat became a rat. He clamped his hands over his mouth and leapt away from Pettigrew's cooling body.

"What mockery is this?!" Someone shouted.

Albus leapt from his seat with a strange look on his face, "This must be some type of new fail-safe Voldemort has created to keep his secrets. Strange, I have never known him to use such a method before."

"Because he doesn't." Snape said in disgust, "He would rather kill them in person. No, this was not done by the Dark Lord."

"Are you suggesting…?" Albus trailed off.

"We'll never know." Snape replied stiffly.

Still, the name Sirius Black hung in the air between them all.

The body tumbled from the chair and crumbled as it toppled to the floor, falling into small pieces of rocks and dust—the dust giving way to a swarm of rats.

Screams and profane exclamations went up and the whole room was in an uproar. Remus ignored them all as he dry heaved on the floor—a rat larger than the rest, sitting calmly by his hand.

Wearing the indelible face of Peter Pettigrew.

**x.X.x **_…let's begin…feeding the sickness…_** x.X.x**

Like a flower in a basement, Adsila waned. Ever since she had let Billy's wizard cousin into their home, she had dreams. At first they were small and insignificant, like dreaming about the man with a shadows sitting on his shoulders and around him, which she took to be depression, or the man rubbing at his pale white arms.

Later, the dreams became so much more. The shadows began to take shapes of people—faceless people and his rubbing turned to scratching until his arms bled. He would continue scratching until he reached his bones and then he would look up and call her name.

Adsila didn't like being left alone with Sirius. The _askook_ was so…strange. She knew about the magic of his kinds and the magic of the lands. She even knew the legends and tales like her own two arms. But whatever it was that Billy's cousin was exuding was none of those.

Sometimes, she would go up to his room at night to deliver a tray and she could hear the _askook_ talking to someone. She could even sometimes smell strange scents tainting the air around the room. She usually just knocked and left the food by the door, but whenever she came back, it was always untouched.

It bothered Adsila when the _askook_ didn't eat, because then she knew that the little _ashkii_ didn't eat either. She knew this because the bottle she placed on the tray was always full as she had left it and cold. She tried to tell her husband, but he would never listen. He was too stubborn a man to listen to her.

Adsila stumbled upon the _askook_'s strange mannerisms one night—completely by accident. He had left open the door to his room and she could see clearly inside. This was perhaps the first and last time she had ever seen the _askook_ act like he was the man he used to be.

He lay on the floor as pale as an _achak_ when she appeared. Blood stained his hands and his shirt. The little _ashkii _lay peacefully on the floor next to him. He was wrapped in some old cloth and was covered in some type of weird writing from what Adsila could see of his face and arms.

The _ashkii_ looked a little different than she could remember, but then again, it could just be her eyes. But somehow, the boy's hair was just a little darker than before and his skin a little more white. Something was drawn on the floor but Adsila never went in any closer to see what it was.

Adsila watched in horror as the _askook_'s venomous stare fixated on her. There was no recognition there—nothing but pure hatred. And not the kind shared with a loved one or a friend. There was nothing loving or friendly in those eyes.

She had dropped the tray and ran.

Billy had gone out for work early that morning leaving Sirius alone with his wife and their kids. He knew Adsila didn't like Sirius all that much, but there was nothing he could do for her. He had to provide for the family and that meant leaving her alone sometimes.

"I will see you around six tonight Adsila," Billy said backing out of the drive, "And please, don't do anything foolish."

"_Asgaya_…it is not foolish. You know I am right."

Billy didn't reply to her words instead he said, "_Agehya_…go for a walk and clear your head."

Adsila didn't look back once at the house as she walked away.

Sirius smiled to himself as he lifted Harry into his arms. The last of the note-worthy presences left the premises of the house. He waved a hand at the covered caldron in the corner of his small room. Pushing it towards the middle of the room, Sirius sat down. He gently placed Harry on a small pallet behind him and turned to remove the stasis spell over the pot.

A sweet smelling steam rose from the caldron in front of Sirius. Yes. He was making a potion. This was a very special potion with a very special purpose. Holding his hand over the bubbling caldron, he delicately cut his palm and allowed for some of his blood to drip in. When he deemed it enough, he wrapped a towel around his hand and stirred.

A bottle filled about two-thirds of the way to the top sat next to his station on the floor. Behind him, Harry gurgled and kicked his back. Sirius smiled gently and reached behind himself to tickle the little feet.

"Soon Harry. Soon, no one will be able to take you from me."

Harry giggled in reply.

Sirius ladled some of the potion into the bottle—enough to fill it. He patted the spot next to himself and waited for Harry to crawl his way over. Harry was nearly sixteen months. He needed to teach the boy to walk soon.

In the corner of the room Sirius heard Jacob make some noise in the small makeshift playpen. He looked up to see the boy wide awake and on the verge of tears. He had tossed a toy over the small gate that he, apparently still wanted to play with.

Screwing the nipple on the bottle, Sirius scooped Harry and made his way over just as the sobs began. He sighed and placed Harry down on the floor outside the pen and reached inside to pick up the sobbing boy.

"Shush now, Jacob. If you don't stop, then Harry will start crying too."

He bounced the irritable boy in his arms which, for some reason, caused the boy to cry harder. He tried walking, but the boy's face became redder and redder for reasons the man would never know. Something dark began to bubble in his chest.

Sirius frowned and held Jacob away from himself, "Hush you noisy child! Be silent!"

Jacob let out a particularly loud wail that set Sirius on edge as Harry began to cry as well. The boy still on the floor tugged at Sirius's pant leg trying to get his attention. Sirius swallowed thickly and pushed Harry away with his foot.

"Not right now, Harry. Just be quiet for a minuit."

Harry crawled back towards Sirius and grabbed onto the man's pants again. Again, he tugged with all his might. He was on the verge of pulling himself up until Sirius pushed him aside once again with his foot—a little harder this time.

"I said not right now Harry!" He growled.

The room was flooded with loud wails. It seemed that the louder one got, the other had to get just that much louder. The older man knelt quickly to retrieve the toy Jacob had thrown earlier, but the boy refused to even look at it.

"Shut up! Be quiet!" Sirius begged.

The struggling man placed Jacob on the bed and went to his knees to pull Harry into his body. From the bed, Jacob threw the toy that Sirius had retrieved for him and cried harder. Sirius squeezed Harry tightly.

"Quiet! Be quiet! What do you want from me?! Why can't you just shut up!"

Sirius looked frantically around his room for something—anything that would shut the children up. Dropping Harry to the bed, Sirius stood up. He couldn't take care of crying children. His Harry had never cried like this before. It was beginning to scare him.

His salvation came in the form of a small bottle. It was a small unnoticeable bottle about the size of a man's fist. There was no name on the bottle, but Sirius knew what it was. He'd seen this bottle for many days during the days following James's marriage to Lily.

He quickly grabbed the two bottles on the floor and halved the contents between the two. This would have to do. He was desperate. He could handle Harry, because Harry was his baby. Harry was a part of himself. But he couldn't handle him like this. Harry used to listen, why not now?

Quickly twisting the caps onto the bottles Sirius shoved them into the children's mouths. The crying slowly calmed and Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. He shifted the two up to his pillow as they began to drift off to sleep. He smiled and smoothed Harry's hair from his head. Shooting a spell over the caldron, Sirius leaned down to pick up the bottle he had dropped in his haste and flipped it over in his hand sadly.

Damn…that was the last of his Firewhiskey.

**x.X.x **_…how do I…simplify…_** x.X.x**

"Albus! Harry—I know where he is!"

Dumbledore looked up from the thick tome on his desk to see Remus standing in front of his desk with a desperate look in his eye. The man was out of breath and looked a little older than the last time the Headmaster had seen him—a little more wild.

"I beg your pardon?"

Lupin moved forward and placed a photo down on top of the page Dumbledore was reading, "Here see? He was seen in America—Seattle, Washington."

The Headmaster picked up the quickly snapped photo. It was magical which means that someone magical had spotted the boy. He was so small and skinny—just sitting on a bench outside of a bookstore. Dumbledore squinted his eyes and peered harder at the boy.

The Harry in the picture wore big clothing. They were modified to fit the boy, but was still big enough to hide the dark marks on his arms. He looked so much different than what Dumbledore anticipated. His hair was much more tame and dark—his skin, so much more paler.

"Quickly," Dumbledore murmured, "We must call an Order meeting."

Lupin rushed from the office to do as told, leaving Dumbledore to himself. The old man sighed and continued to watch the boy in the photograph. Harry scratched his shoulder lightly and swung his legs to and fro. He was too small to reach the ground.

The boy in the picture yawned and lay down on the bench. The people in the background just walked past the bench and around it—like it wasn't there. Albus stared harder at the photo, looking for any sign of Sirius Black. He knew, without doubt, that Sirius would not have abandoned the boy just like that.

A small glint caught his eye as Harry sat back up. It was small and hard to tell what it was from the distance, but Albus knew that design anywhere. Any Pureblood would know that design. The Black Family ring was laced around his neck.

"Albus?"

Hearing his name, the Headmaster looked up to see his Headmistress and a few of the trustworthy members of the Order standing by his desk. It looked like Remus only called the most significant of them. It was good on his part since Albus never did specify who he wanted to see without alerting the rest of the Wizarding Community.

This left only Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, Alice Longbottom, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Alistor Moody, Remus Lupin, and himself. Everyone else either worked too entrenched in the Ministry or too close in the public eye.

"Ah good, you're all here. I have been brought some rather interesting news." He gestured and comfortable chairs sprung up, "Please, have a seat."

Everyone took their seats mumbling, whispering and or, in Severus' case: grumbling. It seems that out of everyone, he was he only one who didn't want to be in the room. No surprise there. The ancient wizard chuckled looked back down at the photo to see that Harry had tucked the ring back out of sight.

Smart boy.

"Well, what is it Albus?" Minerva said, getting to the point, "We can only leave our classes unattended for so long."

"Yes, of course." Dumbledore smiled tightly, "Today I have been approached with the whereabouts of Sirius Black and his godson, Harry Potter."

The room was so silent it was probably not too farfetched to say that one could hear a pin drop on the other side of the school. It was just that quiet. Looks of shock and disbelief ran over the scattered faces.

"Is…is this true Professor?" Alice whispered, "You're not playing a joke on us, are you?"

Dumbledore smiled at the woman gently, "I play no games Mrs. Longbottom."

"Then are you sure Albus?" Minerva asked quickly, "Can we so easily trust this source?"

"I'm sure." The old wizard said with conviction.

"How do you know they did not just take a photo of some random child that fits the description? I mean, it isn't exactly that hard to find a child of that description." Moody huffed.

"No," Albus chuckled, "I daresay it isn't."

"Then how…?" Alice drifted off as she was handed the photo Remus had brought in earlier. She frowned as she passed the photo on, "Are you sure this is the boy Professor?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Why do you think it isn't him?"

"Because," Snape spoke, "This boy looks nothing like Potter. He looks like Black."

Remus took the photo, "No. Sirius and James looked so much alike that they could pass off as brothers. This is James' son." But even as he said it, Remus knew he was lying to convince himself, "This is James' son."

"Then a glamour perhaps?" McGonagall suggested.

Moody grabbed the picture and shook his head—slapping the image back on the Headmaster's desk, "No. No glamour."

Alice Longbottom frowned. There was just something not right about the child in that picture. Even Severus knew something was off about the boy because the snarky man had voiced and pointed out her same suspicions when he didn't even like the boy.

The female Auror turned back to the conversation just as Dumbledore began to spell out their plans. Because, of course, if Harry was where this source said he would be, then Sirius would not be that far away. After all, by the way Sirius had acted on the day the Potters died was any indication, he wouldn't give the boy up without a fight.

"…we will transport Harry—only Harry. If Sirius is anything like he used to be, he will surly follow—without fail."

**x.X.x **_…dislocate…the enemy's on the way…_** x.X.x**

Sirius rinsed the last bit of the soap from Harry's newly tamed hair. The boy just giggled and splashed around in the tub a bit. Tomorrow will be the first time since they had arrived at the reservation that Sirius would let his son out past the bedroom doors besides the bath.

Harry just played with the bubbles in the tub as Sirius washed up behind him. When the older man got out, Harry stood and held up his arms. His mother had already wrapped a towel around himself and was quickly grabbing another.

Harry, being such a quiet and simple boy didn't understand why Jacob told him that his mommy looked different from Jacob's mommy. Sirius had pretty hair, it was shorter than Jacob's mommy's hair, but it was still pretty and nice to touch.

His mommy was pretty too, he had pretty red lips and a nice smile. His eyes were pretty and grey. He never saw anybody with those color eyes before. Harry didn't understand, so like usual, he asked.

"Mommy?"

"Hm?" Sirius scooped Harry from the tub and sat him on the counter.

"Are you different? Jacob said that you can't be my mommy cuz you look like his daddy."

Sirius hesitated before he emptied the tub and turned back to Harry, "I _am_ different Harry. But not like Jacob said. I'm different because I am your mommy…and I am your daddy too."

"But they say only mommies can has babies."

"Well, you did come from mommy's tummy. I remember it so well. You were so precious to me. You still are." Sirius began to rub Harry dry.

"Then why did Jacob say you are different?"

Sirius rubbed harder, "Just ignore him. He doesn't know anything. I am your mother and that's the end of it. You hear me?"

"You're hurting me…" Harry whimpered and nodded, "O-okay mommy."

"You will never bring this up in my presence again! One would think you don't love me. But you love me, don't you Harry? You love me, right?"

"O-of course mommy…"

"And you know I love you right?" Sirius stopped rubbing and hugged Harry tightly, "I've told you so many times, no one else in this world will love you because of what you are. But you will always have me. No one loves you as much as I do."

Sirius looked into the mirror over Harry's head_—his_ Harry's head and caught sight of his reflection. He looked so much better after he was cleaned and little rested, even if not by much. He was till thin and looked as if he was going through a withdrawal of some sort.

Desperation and fear lined the edges of his eyes and mouth. And even as he clung to Harry, he could feel his life draining away slowly. It felt like a leech sat there on his chest, sucking little by little every day, leaving barely enough life for him to stand.

"I k-know mommy, I'm s-sorry…" Harry sobbed lightly, "I k-know you love me…o-only you…"

Sirius held onto Harry all the more tighter. He pulled the naked boy into his arms and carried him to their bedroom. He dressed the boy in his pajama shirt and sent him to sleep. Sirius dressed himself in his pajama pants and crawled in next to his son.

He held Harry while they slept.

If Sirius Black was in his right mind then, he would probably too you he was afraid. He was afraid to lose his Harry. He was afraid to lose his baby's love and adoration. He was afraid of losing everything he had left...

But why…of course, he still had yet to figure that part out.

**x.X.x **_…show me what it's like…_** x.X.x**

She couldn't do it anymore. She couldn't. She loved her _honiahaka_; she loved Harry; she loved Billy but she couldn't stand it anymore. There was something wrong with her husband's cousin. Billy might not want to see it, but she did.

Her friend had divorced her husband and left—asking Adsila to come with her. She turned it down—she couldn't take Jacob away from his father. But now…she had to take Renee's advice and get out. There was nothing left for her here. Renee said that she would even take her and Jacob in for a while.

Adsila sighed deeply and tried to keep her breathing pattern as normal as possible. She curled her arms tighter around her _honiahaka_ and rolled him to the center of the bed. Jacob had taken to sleeping in his parent's bed since Sirius and Harry had his old room. She felt Billy leave the bed and get ready for the day. She opened her eyes as he disappeared into the bathroom and stared ahead at the wall in front of her.

Billy fumbled about the room and briefly stopped next to her on the bed. He didn't reach out to her or kiss her as he usually would do, but instead he sighed, grabbed his keys and left the room. Adsila choked back her tears and burrowed further into her quilts and her son.

Once the sound of the old truck filtered down the road, Adsila got up and began to get dressed. Nudging her _honiahaka_ awake, she tossed some clothes into an overnight bag and slung it over her shoulders. Pulling out some paper and a pen, Adsila dredged up some courage and quickly penned a letter to Billy with a shaky hand.

Jacob yawned and leaned into his mother, causing her to jolt and shoot scared looks towards the empty doorway. The door to Sirius's room was still close tightly.

"My _honiahaka_…You know we're going out today, right?"

Jacob nodded and yawned again, "Yea…but why can't Harwy and Sirius go?"

She swallowed thickly, "Because our little _gaagii_ is sick, remember? Sirius has to get him better before he can come with us."

Jacob accepted the answer without question.

Adsila's hands trembled as she folded the paper and placed it on the dresser. She looked over the room and made sure that she had everything before picking up her bag. She prodded Jacob to the door and took his hand. In the other room, Harry could be heard crying, so she assumed she could get away without Sirius noticing.

How wrong she was.

"Where are you going?"

"Sirius! Oh, I was uh…going to the kitchen to get…something."

"With that bag…and your son?" A malicious glint sprung to his eyes, "You were leaving—weren't you?!"

"What are you talking about? I'm not going anywhere."

Sirius pointed at her accusingly, "You were! You have a bag and everything! You were leaving! Where were you going to go Adsila?"

"Nowhere! We were just going out for a while!"

"Liar! That's not good enough!"

With a speed that Adsila would never have anticipated, Sirius lunged at her. She wrestled with him for a bit—shoving Jacob to the side before Sirius forcefully shoved her into the corner of the small table she had in the hall. Her vision blackened for a split second, but that was all the opening Sirius needed. He grasped tightly to her ankles and began to tug her back towards the bedroom.

"Uncle Sirius, stop! Your hurting mommy!" Jacob cried.

"No. Of course not Jake…your mum just needs to be punished. She's been very bad."

"No!" Jacob screamed, "No!"

Sirius snarled and kicked Jacob backwards into his parent's room—the door locking with a quickly murmured spell.

"S-stop it…" Adsila mumbled—disoriented.

Sirius tsked, "You should know better than to do something like this Adsila, what would Billy say?"

His words seemed to trigger some unknown well of energy in Adsila for she kicked Sirius's tightly gripping hands away and pushed herself from the floor—making a break for the stairs. Sirius jerked out a hand to grab her shirt, but instead, with malicious thoughts in his head…he pushed her.

There was a sickening crack as she hit the bottom.

Sirius froze. He tip-toed his way to the edge of the staircase and looked down the short flight. She had landed on her head. The impact, even at that distance, was enough to snap her neck. Blood was pooling on the floor…and slowly…the guilt and fear began to kick in.

Rushing down the steps, Sirius knelt down next to Adsila's unmoving body. Gently brushing a hand to her neck, he choked up as he felt no pulse. He looked around the room and began to panic. He hadn't felt this feeling in so long that it felt foreign.

"Adsila…Adsila! Get up! Get off the floor—stop laying like that!"

He hadn't meant to kill her. He had only meant to push her a little. He wanted her to stumble. He didn't even want for her to go forward, he had intended on pulling her back. Sirius didn't want her to leave Billy like his parents had left him…like the Potters had left him.

Oh god…now she was dead. His hands began to tremble. What would he do? How could he fix this? No amount of magic in all the world could bring her back to life. Sirius brought his fingers to his lips and began to gnaw on his fingernails.

Blood was steadily dripping from his lips and hand as he thought—having bitten through to the quick. He had to get rid of the body. He had magic. He could make it look like an accident. Just like _him_. He could make her look just like _him_.

It was an accident.

He never meant for her to die.

"Mommy…?"

Sirius's head snapped up. There. At the top of the stairs…was Harry. His wild eyes searched for something—anything to explain. Nothing came to him. It didn't matter. It shouldn't. Harry was a child. He wouldn't understand. He just did what he was told and that was it.

"Harry…" His voice cracked.

Harry climbed halfway down the steps but stopped at the warning look his mother sent him, "Is Anty Addie okay?"

"Of course she is!" Sirius snapped. Harry flinched and Sirius tried to calm his labored breathing. Speaking more gently, he said, "I need you to clean this up. Adsila left quite a mess and I don't want Billy to get mad when he comes home."

Harry moved slowly down the stairs, only moving quicker when his mother snapped at him to move faster. He got old rags that could be thrown away and never missed, gloves cleaning solutions and a pail of water. He began cleaning without a word. Sirius smiled a bit to himself. That was the good thing about Harry.

He never questioned Sirius.

Never.

Quickly gathering his supplies, Sirius dragged the body from the room. He dumped Adsila into her car and proceeded to situate her body in a driving position. Once this was done, he shut the door and examined his handiwork. Something was off.

Opening the door, he gently brushed his fingers though her long black hair. He cleaned her shirt with a little spell here and there and even straightened a bit inside the car. After a minute of debating with himself, Sirius buckled her safety belt.

"I'm so sorry James. I'm so sorry. It was an accident. I never meant for you to be in it. But it had to look just like an accident."

Sirius slammed the door and scratched at his arms.

**x.X.x **_… to dream in black and white…_** x.X.x**

He was there—standing over by the shelves for the darker and more permanent Charms books. He was crouched over a book that was lying open on the floor in front of him. It looked like a fairly harmless children's book because even from that short distance, the Auror could make out the flashes and sparkling dust occasionally spouting from the book.

Alice swallowed—hard. The photo album—disguised book she held in her hand continuously slipped down her sweaty fingers making it almost impossible to keep a firm grip on it. Just put the book in his hand. Or put it in a place where only he would see it. That's all she had to do.

But it felt impossible.

Why did it have to be her? Out of everyone in the Order—one filled with Aurors and spies far more skilled than herself—she had been chosen. Was it because Lily had been her best friend? It had to be. There was nothing else. Still, she would admit, that she wanted to see Harry—her friend's baby. Her son's birthday mate.

Just a little bit.

Using all the will power she had left, Alice Longbottom moved to sit in the children's book area. She took a deep breath and noisily flipped through the book she held. She dropped it as she flipped too roughly through the pages.

The noise of the book hitting the floor caught Harry's attention. Alice ignored him for the moment and went to pick up the book with trembling hands. Lily was her best friend. They had gone into labor together and she'd be damned if little Harry looked just like his parents.

"Awre you okay?"

Alice started and peered down into the little face that butted into her vision. He looked just like his parents. Her eyes got a little misty before she forced them to clear. There was something a little off in his complexion and he was a bit blurred around the edges, but Alice didn't think too much on this. She smiled.

"You look just like your mother."

Harry frowned and stood straight and as tall as he could, "Mommy told—" He took a breath here, "…told me not to talking to strangors."

Alice let the smile fall from her face. Harry was four. His mother never lived long enough to…unless…unless Sirius had built them a life here. It wasn't so strange when she thought about it. Sirius had to get married and settle down sometime.

"I'm not a stranger. I knew you since you were this small," She held up her hands to emphasize how small he was.

"Nuh-un, I wasn't neber dat smawl." Harry pouted.

Alice had to bite her lip from laughing at Harry's cute drawl. His mother must have been a British woman or had an accent of some sort, because even now, it wasn't hard to tell that Harry wasn't an American-born child.

"Of course you were." She chuckled. In fact, Harry was _still_ small. Small and skinny. Neville was six going on seven—the same as Harry and yet he was still bigger. Was he being taken care of alright?

"Where are your parents?" The older woman looked around cautiously.

Harry shrugged, "I 'unno. Wreading a book, prolly."

"And they left you here alone? By yourself?"

"I won' go nowhere. Mommy toll me not to."

The female Auror pushed these thoughts into the back of her head. This is why she was here. She would give him the book and let it activate. She swallowed thickly and pressed the book into the small hands.

"Wha's dis four?" Harry eyed the book suspiciously—looking ready to drop it.

"It's a book I want you to read. It has a lot of nice pictures and stuff. It's…" Alice racked her brain for something, "It's magical."

Harry gasped excitedly and looked at the book with more openness, "Wreally?"

"Yes." Alice knelt down by Harry, "But you mustn't tell anyone about this book, okay?"

"Not eben my mommy?" Alice shook her head, "Why nawt?" Harry glanced at her briefly as he flipped through the pages.

"Well…it's special. It was made only for you." Alice grabbed Harry's small hands, "Promise me that you won't tell anyone. Not even your parents."

Harry seemed to search the Auror's face for a moment before he turned back to the book, "Okay. I won' tell mommy."

"Good boy." Alice ruffled Harry's hair. It was so much softer than she imagined it to be. She thought it would be thicker, more like James.

The small boy shot a smile her way before he dragged the book over to where Alice saw him standing earlier.

"Mommy…?"

Sirius hummed. He didn't turn around to face Harry as he continued to search the bookshelf in front of him. He lowered a hand to the top of Harry's unruly head to let the boy know that he was listening.

Harry shifted uncomfortably under the touch and Sirius frowned. He tightened his grip in Harry's hair and tugged gently, "What is it Harry?"

"I got a book…"

"Okay, that's nice."

"I has a qestion."

"Fire away."

Sirius flipped over the thin book he held in his hands, shook his head and placed it back on the shelf. He sighed and looked down to see what book had his boy so interested. Usually Harry was never this calm whenever they came out book shopping. Looking down with a smile—Sirius bit his tongue.

Rage and sadness filled his veins as he felt Harry's innocent gaze on his person.

"Mommy…who is James?"

**x.X.x** _…so I can leave this world…tonight…_** x.X.x**

**x.X.x**

**TBC**

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**A/N:**

If I got something wrong, please don't hesitate to tell me—other than my warnings of course. But really, I am only relative to the Colorado Navajo Reserves as we passed through there before moving on, and I'm not too sure I got some of the other words correct. Thanks.

Lexicon:

Word//Tribe//Meaning

ASHKII: Navajo: "boy"

ADSILA: Cherokee: "blossom"

ASGAYA: Cherokee: "man"

AGEHYA: Cherokee: "woman"

ASKOOK: Algonquin: "snake"

SHIRIKI: Pawnee: "coyote"

ACHAK: Algonquin: "spirit."

HONIAHAKA: Cheyenne: "little wolf."

GAAGII: Navajo: "raven."

_**x.X.x

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**Chapter 3 Preview:**

"Hello Harry."

"Hullo," Harry waved shyly.

"Harry, we're going to ask you some questions and you need to answer them as honestly as you can okay?" Albus queried gently.

Harry scratched the back of his head, "Does that mean…I'm isn't not s'pposed to lie?"

"Yes, Harry. That means you're not supposed to lie."

"Why nawt?"

Severus snorted and Dumbledore shot him a look, "Because it's not nice. We need to know where you were."

"Oh, okay." Harry accepted easily.

"Why would you lie to us young man?" Minerva questioned.

"'Cause mommy say that," He took a breath, "you…if somebody axe me stupit question then I gib stupid ansir."

Severus snorted again and this time Remus couldn't hold back a chuckle either. That sounded so much like something Sirius would have said. Dumbledore silenced them both with another look and turned back to Harry.

"Now Harry, we're all friends here. Can you tell us where you were before we brought you here? Where you were living?"

Harry looked perplexed, "No."

"No? 'No' what? 'No' you don't know where you were or 'no' you don't know where you live?"

"Wear nawt friends."

Dumbledore's brow twitched in annoyance at those words. Honestly, what had Sirius done to this boy? "Why ever not, Harry? I would like to be your friend. Won't you be mine?"

"No."

"Why ever not?"

"'Cause I dun like you."

Minerva cleared her throat as Snape covered his snorts with coughs. Remus turned his head away to hide his smile and the Headmaster buried his head in his hands.

Harry yawned and tried to slide out of the chair he was in, "Can I call my mommy nao?"

McGonagall lifted the boy back into the chair and tutted, "You still haven't answered any questions."

"But mommy said I dun got to…" He took another breath; they noticed he did this alot, "nawt ansir if I don' like you. I don' wan to be yor friend cuz I dun like you."

"Is there anyone here who you would like to be friends with? One whom you'd tell everything to?" Remus snickered.

Harry looked around the room of adults and pointed out one that would have made them all faint if not for years of experience. Of course, experience could never handle shock, and shocked they were and would forever be.

"Absolutely not!"

He had pointed to Severus Snape.

_**x.X.x

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Thanks for reading and your wonderful reviews. The next chapter should be out sooner than this one. *A*


	3. Interlude: Lies

**Sorry this is so late. I remember someone asking about Adsila's death and the reactions of the family. This was originally part of the original chapter, but I cut it for this interlude. The funeral will be in the next chapter.**

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_Interlude: Lies_

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**x.X.x**_ …_ _Bound at every limb by my shackles of fear…_** x.X.x**

He was upset. He was scared. He was…angry. He was very, very angry. If asked, even he couldn't tell you exactly where the anger had come from. Perhaps it was because he didn't understand…didn't _want _to understand.

The unfairness of it all just swept over his head. He had only left his home for less than five hours and here he was again: approximately fifty yards from his home and close to tears-drowning in a despair he had not felt since he was a boy. It was a feeling he'd thought he'd never feel again.

But here it was.

Billy wasn't even sure he had heard them right. It was practically impossible because it was only just this morning that he had seen her. She was upset, to be sure, but she wasn't _that_ upset. His wife…his sweet, mild tempered Adsila…was dead.

"Charlie…I…"

His best friend was the one who had brought him the news. He was also the only officer who had not left his side…yet. "We found the Rabbit, Billy. There was no mistaking it."

"But she…she was just…"

Charlie rested his hand on Billy's shoulder and propelled the other man towards his car. They were at the scene of the crime, but to Billy, it looked everything but. For all the reports made, it simply looked as if his wife had parked her car and went to sleep…and for all intents and purposes, she just didn't feel like waking up.

In fact, Billy would have believed it had it not been for the few extra claims Officer Swan had made to him. She had been struck. Either by a floor or a weapon of some sort—it did not matter. But according to Charlie, she might have already been dying or already dead before they had found her.

It may very well have been a wizard…one of those people chasing Sirius and his son. But what would they have achieved from this? What could his wife had known that they couldn't just take and leave her alive and well? It's not like they would go and hunt them down for it. It could also have been an accident. A pure accident. She could have been on her way to the hospital.

But somehow…he couldn't bring himself to believe that. Not when…

The thought ran Billy's blood cold.

…her car was facing the wrong direction.

**x.X.x**_ …Sealed with lies through so many tears…_** x.X.x**

A familiar old beat up red truck sat in front of the house when Sirius made it back. The gravity of the whole situation hadn't sunk in yet and he still doubted that his boy wasn't inside Billy's house with Jacob, waiting for him to come back.

Thoughts raged around in his head about what he should tell his old cousin. For one, he made sure there was no evidence of his wife's death in the house…but there was no evidence of what she was doing other than leaving the house that day either. The dark haired man looked down at his hand—his empty hand—where now, only a bloodied necklace occupied the place where Harry's tiny fingers should be.

Harry was gone and Sirius had not nearly enough magic to go and get him back. It would take forever to apperate from one place to another, and by the time he had accumulated enough magic to do so, the other half would have probably drained back into the earth by then and couldn't be used. That thought didn't comfort him.

Billy sat quietly at the small kitchen table staring at the chipped and a little uneven surface. He didn't say anything to Sirius as the other man took a seat across from him. One of Billy's friends—Officer Swan—sat next to him feeling as ragged as Sirius looked, probably. He hid his bloodied hands in his pocket.

Officer Swan reminded Sirius so much of someone he once knew. They both had the same weary chocolate brown eyes and tiredly drawn face. Of course, the man Sirius knew never looked so tired until they were at the end of their road. He promised himself he wouldn't think about it, but the police had unknowingly caused those old flood gates to open. He curled his fingers around the necklace in his pocket.

Rubbing a hand down his face, Billy sighed. No tears, no choked sobs, no nothing. Perhaps it didn't sink in as much as he thought it had. But that couldn't be it—then again Sirius and Charlie weren't crying either. Maybe it was a man thing. But…It just wasn't fair. This just didn't seem right. He had only seen his wife just that morning…

"Sirius…my wife…she…"

"I know."

The Quileute's eyes snapped up to stare at the ruffled top of his cousin's head, "You know." He repeated.

"She…" Sirius shook his head, "I saw the car."

The men sat in the oppressing quiet.

Billy's cracking voice broke the silence, "How is he?"

"Jacob's asleep now." Charlie answered calmly, "He doesn't remember what happened. He said he was in your room."

"I just don't understand it. She…she…" Billy buried his head in his hands, "What will the girls think?"

Sirius stared expressionlessly at the top of Billy's head. He morphed his face into a mask as he spoke his next words slowly, "She died a good death. If it weren't for her, Harry would be in an unsafe place right now."

Billy frowned, "Where is the little _ashkii_ anyway? I haven't seen him at all today."

The grey-eyed man sat silently and stared at Billy. He didn't meet the man's eyes, but he still searched every part of the man's face. He let his eyes flow from the Quileute's face and stare at the wall over the man's left shoulder—the opposite side of where Officer Swan sat. For some reason, those eyes unnerved him. He felt like those weary eyes could see right through him.

"They came and took him, Billy. They slipped him a book and…and James's name was the activation key…" Sirius swallowed against the lump in his throat, "Your wife…your wife went after him."

It took a moment for his own words to register in his own head.

**x.X.x**_ …Lost from within, pursuing the end…_** x.X.x**

Sirius leaned over the table and buried his face in his hands. Even though he wasn't crying out loud, Billy knew that the other man took this really hard. Not so long ago, he'd lost his friends and his entire life collapsed. How it must hurt to have saved their son only to have him taken away with death involved. He didn't even know if Harry was alive.

Billy blinked. "Cousin, your hands…"

He knew. Sirius knew that there was blood on them. Both crusted from Alice and new from where his nails dug into his palm. He also knew that there was black ink on his palm. There was too much red to discern between the two, but it was still there.

The rugged man ignored Billy's plea. He couldn't look at the Quileute man now. He heard only a few whispered words before a light touch made him start. Officer Swan was standing next to his chair with a sad look upon his face. There was nothing this man could do and yet…

"Let me help you."

Had sorrow been inhuman, surely Sirius would have died.

It hadn't escaped him that it wasn't Billy offering to help him.

**x.X.x**_ …I fight for the chance to be lied to again…_** x.X.x**

Billy slowly stood and walked steadily to his room where his son lay unmoving on the bed. It wasn't that he didn't want to…but he didn't think he had it in him at that moment to help his cousin. Perhaps survivor's guilt was eating at him…Or maybe it was the blame game. It _was_, after all, Sirius's fault that Adsila was upset in the first place.

He ran his fingers through his son's hair and down his face. He had a lot of his mother in him, from her _achak _to her face. Leaning down, he pulled his son into his arms. He sat cross legged on the bed and cradled the boy like had when Jacob was just a baby.

He was still small enough to fit.

Billy sighed and buried his face in his son's hair. He wondered how he was going to explain Harry's absence and very briefly, he wondered what was going to happen now. His mind wandered to Sirius's bloodied hands and the black ink that stained them. Perhaps there was something there to tell him.

Jacob stirred a little. He recognized instantly the arms that held him, "_Noshi_? Where is mother?"

His father didn't answer him immediately and Jacob knew something was wrong. He remembered very vaguely his Uncle Sirius and his mother arguing and how his Uncle had pushed him into a room after his mother had fallen in the hall. Everything was blank after that—he couldn't remember.

"_Nosh_?"

"Oh my _shiye_…" Billy whispered gently, "My little _honiahaka_…we can no longer say her name."

**x.X.x**

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**A/N:**

Very late, I know. But RL is kicking my bum to and back. School is neither here nor there, but very time consuming. Sort of. The next chapter, I swear won't be as long in coming. For the most part, it's already written, I just need to get rid of Sirius's scratching problem and squeeze Neville, Snape and Draco in somewhere before they seemingly pop out of thin air in the later chapters.

BTW, please remember that Jacob is only 6 at present. His heritage also deems that he understands to some extent about the death of others. Not to mention, there's a blank in his memory suggesting outside temperance. Thanks. :)

R&R Plz

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**Lexicon:**

Word_**//**_Tribe_**//**_Meaning

**ASHKII**: Navajo: "boy"

**ADSILA**: Cherokee: "blossom"

**ASGAYA**: Cherokee: "man"

**AGEHYA**: Cherokee: "woman"

**ASKOOK**: Algonquin: "snake"

**SHIRIKI**: Pawnee: "coyote"

**ACHAK**: Algonquin: "spirit"

**HONIAHAKA**: Cheyenne: "little wolf"

**SHIYE**: Navajo: "son"

**NOSH/NOSHI**: Algonquin: "father."


	4. It's The Fear

**A/N:** My apologies for this chapter coming out so late. I decided not to spend too much time on the conspiracy going on in the Wizarding world. Instead, it's all virtually explained and hacked apart in this chapter. This way I'll not have to drag them back into the Wizarding world. If you need clarification, I'd be happy to oblige. I hope you all enjoy. :)

To one reviewer, whom I will not mention as it would be unfair: If you don't like my slow updates, then don't read this story. I'm not asking you to. I don't have all the time in the world to sit and just write all day long. I have a life beyond these stories—a life currently not underfoot with my house, parents and college. I can't just up and drop everything else for this. This is for sheer pleasure of my free time and nothing more.

**Chapter Specific Warning(s):** Time jumps—Harry will be eight by the end of this chapter, there are points in this chapter that are nothing more than the odd filler before an event, um…swearing, blatant disrespect for elders, and a little bit of cross-dressing shota. You might have to squint. Character death ensues (again) x2.

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_It's the Fear_

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**x.X.x**_ …waits for the day…will let it out…_** x.X.x**

Sirius screamed in outrage and lunged after Harry as the portkey went off. He reached Harry just as his son vanished from the spot—grabbing onto thin air, "Harry!"

Growling in frustration, Sirius tugged at his hair agitatedly. He let his eyes rove over every corner and crevice of the room—the mangled ends of his wild magic snapping in every direction. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a very familiar magical signature. It was disappearing around a bookshelf with the tail end of a ragged cloak.

Sirius narrowed his eyes and shot off after the snapping cloak. The hood was pulled up over the person's head so he couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. Their face was covered pretty well and not even a strand of hair fell down from the hood. Sirius had barely enough time to blink before the figure pulled out a wand and blasted a spell in his direction.

On natural animalistic and Auror-ingrained training, Sirius dove to his right out of the way and whipped out his own wand as well. He noted the reflexes of the person and concluded that he was going head-to-head with another Auror. Forgetting for the moment that his magic was unstable, the man let off what was supposed to be a rather harmless stunning curse.

Unprepared for what came from the wand in its stead, both Sirius and the Auror stared in shock as the spell mutated right before their eyes and blasted the shelf next to them into splinters. Smoke and dust filled every corner and crevice—not even a trace of a magically protected book that was on the shelf was left.

Taking the timely distraction as it had come; Sirius quickly spun to his left and spotted the figure that he recognized instantly. The hood had come off in the blast and short black hair was blowing slightly with the aftershocks of the spell.

Lunging at the figure with all his weight, Sirius knocked them to the ground and quickly wrapped his hands around their neck. Up close the face was almost unmistakable, but that couldn't be. It wasn't right. Her hair was longer than he remembered and her face a little more gaunt and her eyes a little more haunted. What was going on here?

"Alice…y-you're alive…?" Sirius looked shocked and confused. He shook his head and his face suddenly took on a nasty look. He tightened his hands around her throat, "You're alive? How?"

The female Auror's eyes bulged in fear and she coughed—fighting in her lack of air, "W-what are you t-talking about…?"

The deranged man released her briefly, watching her take in gasping breaths of air with fascinated eyes, "But Peter…" His eyes glinted with an unholy light, "Peter…" he growled.

Alice gasped as Sirius's hands tightened around her throat again. She reached up to scratch at his hands and wrists and she kicked and bucked furiously. Nothing seemed to deter the man's ire. Despite his wan look, he still had enough strength to snap her neck right then if he wished to. Tears sprung to her eyes as she tried to swallow reflexively against the grating burn in her throat.

"Where is my son Alice?"

"Please!" She gasped out.

"Where is my son?!" Sirius shook her harshly, "Where is my baby?!"

"I-I c-c-can't…"

Sirius's voice took on a desperate tone, "Yes! Yes you can! Where is he Alice?!" He shook her again—this time there was considerably more force behind this action, "Is he at Hogwarts? Is that where you took my boy?!"

He knew it had to be. It was the only place that was safe enough to hide a small boy successfully from all searching eyes. Just last night he had this fear in his gut that his boy would be taken from him. He didn't understand it at the time, but it was too late now. That feeling he had, already came to pass. Now he felt empty. Scared and empty.

Alice's throat was burning and her vision was going grey at the edges. It felt like he was trying to squeeze a semi-thick plastic tube into submission in her throat. The mucus in her throat stuck together as the sides touched and made her cough fitfully. Through her tears, Alice could see traces of real fear and desperation in his eyes. Did he really think that they would hurt Harry? Did he really worry about that boy so much?

Something twisted in her gut as the pull of her emergency portkey activated.

Sirius's eyes widened in shock as he tried to keep the Auror's neck—anything—in his grasp. The shock of magic cackled around Alice as she disappeared, throwing Sirius's hands off her person. Something around her neck gave way and a small snap sounded as she departed.

**x.X.x**_ …To give it a reason…to give it its might…_** x.X.x**

SUMMER

Harry landed in a very large soft plushy chair. He bounced a little before he settled into the overstuffed thing and looked around the very unfamiliar surroundings. While the room was fairly large, it was taken up mostly by strange brightly colored ornaments and junk that looked kinda like the stuff Harry had seen in Billy's old garage. The room was also full of people. When none of the faces came as immediately recognizable, Harry began to cry.

"_Shizhe'e_! _Shizhe'e_!"

McGonagall was the first to break from her reverie when Harry tried to crawl from his seat. She made a noise in the back of her throat and caught him before he could completely drop to the floor. He fought her hands as she tried to hold him there. He stood up in the seat when he realized that he wouldn't be able to get down past the woman's hands. McGonagall sighed a little in relief—she really didn't want to place a sticking charm on him.

Harry cried out only once, before he sobbed in silence. There was an _inteus_, a cat, a leopard, a bat and a man of many parts. There was no dog, but there was a _shoemowetochawcawewahcatowe_ and that was close enough. This wolf had tawny brown hair that was peppered lightly with grey. He had pale tan skin that looked very smooth, but one could see the scars there if they looked long enough. He held up his arms to the man who couldn't help but to note how thin and pale they were.

The man looked almost afraid to pick him up. And truth be told, Lupin probably was. He didn't want to risk a chance of hurting Harry inadvertently or breaking something by mistake. Harry had the distinct smell of a pack on him and it rubbed Remus's wolf the wrong way—just a bit.

"Oh for heaven's sake Remus—just pick him up!" McGonagall said frustrated, "Maybe it'll calm him down."

Remus frowned but leaned forward to pick the boy up. He weighed virtually nothing in the werewolf's arms. He was quite light compared to the healthy weight of Alice's boy Neville Longbottom. He felt the arms lock around his neck and the small flutters of hiccupping breath blow across his cheeks.

There was something not right about this boy in his arms. Next to the smell and second language, this looked almost nothing like that of the image of little Harry he had the first time he saw the boy. He was too thin, too contrastingly colored and his vibrant green eyes had a light sheen of smoky grey flecked around the iris. This boy looked almost exactly like a young Sirius.

"Are you sure we got the right child?"

"What do you mean my boy?" The headmaster leaned forward with a curious look.

Lupin gently ran his fingers though Harry's hair and pressed the weary head to his shoulder, "Because this boy is nothing like James. He looks like a little clone of Sirius almost."

Dumbledore squinted and frowned. Leaning back in his chair, he sighed, "I believe, you are right…but the books say that this is the boy we're looking for."

"Perhaps Black cast some spells upon the boy." Moody spoke lowly. It wasn't that he was suddenly being nice or anything, but he'd rather not have Harry start crying again.

Minerva hummed even as she shook her head, "While Sirius wasn't inept at Charms, it just wasn't his forte. That was more of Lily's and I don't think she would do anything like this."

"I really don't think he'd go that far Minerva." The headmaster placated, "He would be too distraught to think like that."

"No." Remus said softly, but firmly, "He may have been upset, but it would be in moments like these he would be at his most dangerous."

"He wouldn't—," McGonagall began.

"He _would_." Remus cut her off, "Don't forget what he had done back in his fifth year."

"Sirius was just a boy then," Dumbledore said gently, "And Harry's a child."

Lupin frowned, "Look at him. I mean really _look_ at him, Albus. Harry is but a baby in the body of this five-year-old. He has no sense of right and wrong. He'd never understand the ramifications of things he's done or will do…so it would never bother him so long as he derived pleasure from what he'd done for the moment."

Across the room, Moody grunted. Minerva shook her head, but she knew what Remus had stated was true. It had yet to sink into their heads, his exact meaning, but it was there—hovering just above the surface.

"Harry is just a child." Albus said again.

Realization kicked in.

"So too is Sirius." Remus said softly.

Severus fought hard not to choke.

**x.X.x**_ …I fear who I am becoming…_** x.X.x**

It was a beautiful day outside, not that the residents of La Push were aware. There was a chill so cold that ran through them all that made them feel surely as if they'd never feel the warmth ever again. Even the children could sense the chill in the air for all of them were silent—even if they didn't know why.

The burial ground wasn't too far from La Push, but it wasn't that close either. It took place on James Island where all the reservation burials took place. The burial of chiefs and packs took place at the top of the island while the burials of the families were in the walls of the tall island. Sirius thought it ironic that the island was named James—after his best friend. And another one of his friends was being buried there.

Away from the crowd near a small tombstone where Sirius knew her father was buried after a quiet death, a freshly dug pit was set beside it. Further down from the graves stood a little stone platform where Adsila's body lay. Wood was stacked around the platform all neat and tidy, the smaller twigs being held together with strings wove from her hair. Beside Adsila's body stood a man that looked like he was a million years old.

Sirius felt that he should have been grateful that no one had seen through his lie, but he couldn't bring himself to feel anything other than anger and sadness at that moment. Harry should have been here to see this. Harry should have been here—safe in his sights and arms. He made his way over to the small seating area where the Quileute family sat. Sirius was a part of this family and some of the pack bade him to sit, but the crushing guilt of Adsila's death made him stand.

Adsila looked so peaceful—the local Healer did an incredible job and she made it seem only as if Adsila was sleeping and would wake up at any moment and tell them she was fine—that they had made a mistake. She would get up and go home, cook for her family and love her son like everything was fine. Even the children knew that she was everything but.

The sun was beginning to set and it cast a glow over the island. Everyone's skin burned a beautiful tuscan red and made Sirius feel out of place right next to Charlie. But it was just an accident. He had to remember that. He shook off the cold feeling that was settling on his shoulders and walked over to his cousin who had yet to leave Adsila's side.

"Come on Billy…" The distraught man felt his best friend guided him into a seat. He was quite thankful that he was there. "She's fine. She's just having a nice long kip—heard her parents were missing her."

Billy nodded his head with a small smile on his face. Adsila was a strong woman, but these last few months had not been kind. She was pushed to her last raw nerve and back. Why didn't he see that? She was always telling him that Sirius wasn't the same person that he used to be—Billy knew this, but he wanted to help the man. Sirius was family and Billy was the only part of that old family he had left.

Sirius had told him that Adsila was going after Harry. The young _ashkii_ was missing, but Sirius had told him that it was of no concern. Harry was taken someplace safe. He watched his son from the corner of his eye as Jacob slid from his seat and walked over to Sirius. They were talking, and Billy found himself briefly wondering what they were speaking of.

"Isn't she gonna be cold? Don't we need ta get her a blanket?"

"She's not cold Jake; she's just very tired and needs her sleep. The fire they'll light will keep her warm...all the way 'til the end of her path." Sirius didn't know how he could explain to a child that he would never see his mother again and that she'd never be cold where she was going. He was kind of glad that Jacob already understood. It was something he grew up knowing and Sirius appreciated that custom more than ever now.

"I'll never be able to say her name anymore?"

"No child…her name belongs to someone else now."

"Will I ever see her again?"

The child's big brown eyes looked up at him—lost and Sirius knew that he felt just as lost as Jacob's eyes looked. He just hoped that none of it showed on his face, "Yes Jake…you'll see her again…but not until later—much, much, later."

Jacob smiled a little and looked into the fire that was burning around his mother, "Okay…but will she 'member me? I gonna be real big lator."

"Of course she'll remember you!" Sirius bit out. He took Jacob's hand in his own and took what little comfort he could since the hand was not the one he wanted it to be, "Now come. Everyone's sending their gifts and letters. I think your father would like to have us next to him when his turn comes."

Jacob nodded and followed Sirius over to where his father was tying together some Honeyflower and Jonquil with strands of both their hair. It meant affections and affection returned. Billy took up his son's hand and together, they walked over to the fires the shaman had set to Adsila's body. Sirius watched as Billy instructed his son in the proper way to do the sending ritual.

Standing next to both man and child as it were, Sirius didn't feel so quite out of place. The bright blue flames stained each person's skin in different shades of blue, grays and blacks. He pulled out a folded sheet of paper from his pocket. It was a little crumpled, but it would burn anyway, so it did not matter overly much.

Sirius breathed slowly as he watched all of the ashes being blown across the ocean and up to the sky—blowing straight up to where Adsila's ashes now rest. He swallowed thickly and pulled out a pen. Quickly penning something on the outside of the paper, Sirius tossed it into the flames. He turned away and didn't watch as the fire ate through the note quickly.

_Asgaya,_

_I have loved you and I love you still, but I cannot stay. Your cousin has grown too far us to catch…and I think you know this. Please, don't hate me. And…tell Sirius that I'm sorry?_

_Adsila_

He watched from the shore—the fires still burning brightly, casting a shadow across the sky. He rubbed his forearms and twirled his latent wand in his hand. Perhaps James and Lily are up there…and just maybe, somewhere in the Wizarding world, Harry is looking at the same sky.

_I know._

**x.X.x**_ …I feel that I am losing the struggle within…_** x.X.x**

Alice Longbottom landed with a thud and a sharp crack on the Hogwarts Infirmary floor. Her hands instantly flew to her neck where she could still feel Sirius's desperate fingers around her neck. She knew that even when the images had long faded, the pains of his grip would not. She scratched and cried. She didn't want to die—not like this. She still had Neville to think of.

The Auror thrashed on the ground—feeling as if she was unable to draw breath. The look of pure anger and hatred on Sirius's face wouldn't leave her. She could hear people shouting and moving around, but the all sounded so far away. She felt a hard hand forcing her down to the floor as magic washed over her—draining the last dregs of fight and strength from her. The last thought she had was that she should have known.

Poppy started when Alice suddenly appeared in the room. She rushed over to the flailing woman as Aurors flooded her sanctuary. She did her best to calm the desperate woman, but nothing seemed to work. From over her shoulder, Poppy saw a dark hand hold the flailing woman in place. It was Kingsley.

"Cast it now."

The mediwitch threw the spell one last time and breathed in a sigh of relief as Alice Longbottom relaxed into the magic's hold. She cast a few cleaning spells and ones for sterilization. Examining the wounds on the woman's neck she frowned. Didn't she have a necklace before?

"Her emergency portkey went off…it would only go off if she was in danger."

"Do you think that she had a run-in with Black?"

Poppy pushed Alice's head to the side—baring her bloody neck, "I'd say she did a little more than run into him."

Kingsley sighed, "Should I go get Dumbledore?"

"Please," Poppy nodded, "He needs to see this."

The matron gently rubbed around the cuts on the Auror's neck and felt the grooves where fingers had lay. She followed them with her fingertips and grazed lightly over the cuts where she knew Sirius's nails had dug into her skin. Up until now, she thought that taking the boy was a good idea. Now…she didn't want to think about what they had brought upon themselves.

"How is she?"

Poppy pulled her hands back quickly and spun to face some of the Order and Kingsley. Wiping her hands on her apron Poppy frowned, "She could be a lot better. She has several lacerations, bruises and trauma."

"So she'll be fine when she awakens?" Dumbledore hummed.

"No Albus!" Poppy snapped, "She will not be fine. This woman was so traumatized that when she landed on my floor, she was still fighting to breathe!"

"Poppy…"

"Don't, Albus," The mediwitch sighed, "Just…don't crowd her."

The witch huffed and walked away from the bed. She motioned to the Potions Master and bade him to follow her to her storage cabinet. She didn't turn to see if he did not follow nor did she say anything when they got to the cabinet. Severus didn't push and let her gather herself.

"He strangled her."

"What?"

"Alice: Sirius Black strangled her." Poppy sorted through her potions and started to document them with a quick quotes quill, "There are still grooves where his fingers were and abrasions where he dug his fingers into her skin."

"The man is deranged, Poppy," Severus said slowly, "He doesn't deserve to rot in Azkaban, but he doesn't deserve to have Potter in his custody either."

"I don't know," Poppy said sadly, "But are we doing the right thing? Sirius may not deserve that boy, but Harry's all he's got."

Snape turned back to face the infirmary. There was only Dumbledore and Kingsley left in the room. The Headmaster stood over Longbottom's bed with a pensive look on his face. Kingsley stood on the other side with a wounded look—Alice was his partner, he should have fought harder to go on this mission with her.

"I'll need these by tomorrow morning." Poppy's voice broke through Severus's thoughts.

Severus didn't answer as the matron handed him the list and sat behind her desk with a quill in hand. A medical file was open on the table and she was filling it out like the professional she was. Snape knew the conversation was over without her saying so. He turned and left her to her thoughts. Perhaps they weren't right in what they were doing, but it was something that had to be done.

Shacklebolt looked up at Dumbledore briefly, "Are you certain that Sirius Black will come after Harry?"

Albus looked down at Alice's bleeding neck, "Of that I have no doubt. He will come."

**x.X.x**_ …I can no longer restrain it…_** x.X.x**

Dumbledore walked into his office with a contemplative look on his face. He and the few members from the Order had remained awake all the previous night and early into the morning, trying desperately for answers to their questions. Snape had left them only briefly to make some potions for Poppy, but other than that, no one allowed themselves the freedom of letting little Harry out of their sights.

Harry, for the most part, spent the night in Remus's arms. He had not cried again that night, but they could tell he was still unsure and uncomfortable. He had spoken, though very rarely, to all of the gathered adults, but seemed to find no discomfort there—at a distance. He was animatedly talking to Remus as only a child could when Dumbledore had called the room to attention.

"How is she?" Remus asked the quiet party.

Minerva turned her head down, but nothing could mask the quiet fear there. Everyone else just looked tired. No one had answered the man's question, but to him, that was answer enough. Something had happened to Alice. He opened his mouth to voice something, but Dumbledore shook his head.

"Hello Harry."

"Hullo," Harry looked up through his hair waved shyly, "Can I cawl my mommy?"

"Harry, we're going to ask you some questions and you need to answer them as honestly as you can okay?" Albus queried gently.

Harry scratched the back of his head, "Does that mean…I'm isn't not s'pposed to lie?"

"Yes, Harry. That means you're not supposed to lie."

"Why not?"

Severus snorted and Dumbledore shot him a look, "Because it's not nice. We need to know where you were."

"Oh, okay." Harry accepted easily.

"Can you tell us where you were before we brought you here? Where you were living?"

"I…I dunno." Harry toyed idly with the buttons on Lupin's shirt—his little fingers too uncoordinated to unbutton them.

Remus covered the small hands with his own, "You don't know, or you can't tell us?"

Harry pulled his hands away and toyed with Remus's fingers instead—a nervous habit, probably, "I dun know. I didn't got to play ou'side with the other boys."

"So you always stayed inside?" Minerva asked, almost angrily.

"No."

"Did Sirius do anything…untoward?" Dumbledore asked gently.

"I dunno what that means…so…can I lie now?"

McGonagall looked shocked as Harry slid to the chair from Remus's lap. "Why would you lie to us young man?" Minerva questioned.

"'Cause mommy say that," He took a breath, "you…if somebody axe me stupid question then I gib stupid ansir."

Severus snorted again and this time Remus couldn't hold back a chuckle either. That sounded so much like something Sirius would have said. Dumbledore silenced them both with a withering look and turned back to Harry.

"Harry, we're all friends here, aren't we? Please, we just need to know where you were. Those people could very well be in danger. Do you understand?"

Harry looked perplexed, "No."

"No? 'No' what? 'No' you don't know where you were or 'no' you don't understand?"

"Wear not friends."

Dumbledore reeled in his anger at those words. Honestly, what had Sirius done to this boy? "Why ever not, Harry? I would like to be your friend. Won't you be mine?"

"No."

"Why ever not?"

"'Cause I dun like you."

Minerva cleared her throat as Snape covered his snorts with coughs. Remus turned his head away to hide his smile and the Headmaster buried his head in his hands. There were even little squeaks from Lupin's pocket, suspiciously sounding like laughter.

Harry yawned and tried to slide out of the chair he was in, "Anyways, I dun even know…know about…I dun know where I living at. Can I cawl my mommy nao?"

McGonagall lifted the boy back into the high chair and tutted, "You still haven't answered any questions."

"But mommy said I dun got to…" He took another breath, "nawt ansir if I don' like you. I don' wan to be yor friend…I dun like you."

"Is there anyone here who you would like to be friends with? One whom you'd tell everything to?" Remus snickered.

Harry looked around the room of adults and pointed out one that would have made them all faint if not for years of experience. Of course, experience could never handle shock, and shocked they were and would forever be.

"Absolutely not!"

He had pointed to Severus Snape.

**x.X.x**_ …My strength it is fading…_** x.X.x**

"So, water we gonna do first?"

Snape sneered in disgust, "We're going to work on your atrocious language skills. You're supposed to speak the language, not massacre it."

"I don' mass-care it!"

Severus twitched, "You do—don't argue with me."

Harry shrugged and tried to follow in Severus's long strides—leaping to match his feet with every step Snape took, "Okay."

Snape wanted so snap at the boy. Instead he took a deep breath and turned to find Harry hopping in his steps—trying to match Severus's longer strides with his much shorter legs. He bumped into the back of Snape's legs as he didn't realize the older man had stopped his strides. It was pure instinct that had Severus catching Harry and standing him back upright.

"Are we gonna go see _inteus_ …again?"

"We're going to…what?"

"_Shoemowetochawcawewahcatowe_ said that _inteus_ and _akecheta _will wan'to see me again."

"What did you call them?"

"Eh..."

"What do those names mean?"

"Your _shoemowetochawcawewahcatowe_ said it was okay." Harry looked on the verge of tears.

"See, you did it again, what does that mean?"

"What?" Comprehension dawned, "Oh. His name is 'high backed wolf' because he is taller than the normal wo'f—who walk on two legs!" Harry looked positively ecstatic about that.

"And the other ones? The…_ akecheta_ …?"

"Ooh, yor good." Harry praised, "It mean 'fighter' because she looks strong and tired—like she fight a lot."

"And what did you call the Headmaster?" He almost dreaded the answer.

"I dunno who that is."

He really didn't want to know if the child really meant it or was just playing with him like any Potter was wont to do, "Albus?"

"Who's that?"

"The old man with the long beard."

"Oh. His name is 'no shame'."

**x.X.x**_ …I have to give in…_** x.X.x**

The first thing Snape did with Harry was to lock him in the bedroom. He wasn't even sure Harry knew that or even if he did, he didn't mind it. What kind of mockery was this? He gingerly wiped a hand down his face and walked over to the fireplace and called the next best person he knew about child-raising.

"Lucius."

"My, my, Severus. Finally crawled from that hole you call a lab to mingle with the living?"

"This just isn't the time, Lucius." He growled, "I need your help."

"How touching," Lucius said sarcastically, "And what, may I inquire, has made you lower yourself to _ask_ for _my_ help, my friend?"

Snape was sure his eye twitched, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Bring your son with you, mind. I'm sure it would benefit us both."

Lucius narrowed his eyes at the implication but didn't ask. "I'll be over as soon as I convince Narcissa that the world doesn't have to end if Draco leaves her side for a couple of hours."

Severus frowned, "That's frightening in all aspects."

In fact, he didn't have to wait long before Lucius had come through with Draco. Almost being eight, Draco's head nearly brushed his father's stomach. Snape frowned. Harry should be coming into the same age, yet he still seemed to have the physique of a five year old. He'd have to look more into that later.

"In the bedroom." Snape said without thinking.

"Excuse me?" Lucius balked, "What did you say?"

Severus played back what he had just let slip and made to correct his err, "I've had a young charge forced upon my person by Albus and he is in the bedroom. I know not one whit on how to care for children."

Lucius seemed to have visibly calmed and walked Draco over to the door behind Snape. He raised a brow in Snape's direction, "You locked him in?"

"It's not like the brat would care. He follows directions so blindly; I'm surprised he can even go to the loo on his own."

They walked into the room to see Harry sitting in the exact spot that Snape had left him only moments before, idly toying with the bed drapes. Lucius blinked and looked between both the man and the boy.

"Is he yours?"

"No!" Snape balked, "I told you, Albus hoisted this urchin upon me."

"Well then, what is his parentage?" He didn't wait for Snape to answer, "Who are your parents, boy?"

Harry looked up at the crowd of people in the room. There were two there with hair in the likes that he'd never seen before. They were like the yellow sands of the beaches in the photographs that his Aunt Addie had always shown him. She said she would like to have gone there one day. Almost instantly, Harry felt a rapport with the taller of the two angelic men as he had with Snape.

"I dunno. I only know my mommy."

The blonde man's nose wrinkled, but not unkindly—yet. "His language skills are atrocious, Severus. He sounds like a muggle child."

"Good for that then," The Potions Master snapped, "That's where Albus should have left him."

"He's a muggle?" Lucius sounded almost disgusted.

Snape sighed, "Only you, Lucius Malfoy, only you."

Lucius huffed, "Well what did you expect me to think? You offer me nothing else."

"He's Potter's spawn."

"Please tell me you're joking." Lucius snorted, "The boy looks more like a Black."

"What?"

"Just look at him. That hair, those eyes—I admit that the eyes are a bit off, but he's even got Narcissa's build." He cut Snape off before he could even protest, "Don't contradict or deny this. Look how small the boy is! The boy's just like Regulus when he was that age."

Snape had to admit that Lucius _did_ have a point.

**x.X.x**_ …It's the fear…fear of the dark…_** x.X.x**

FALL

Alice jerked upright in bed, gasping for air. She reached out to scratch at hands that weren't there around her neck and came into contact with sterile white bandages. Making a noise of distress, the Auror tore at them. She needed to feel her neck—she just had to be sure. Slowly running her fingers over the abrasions and indentions on her neck, Alice sighed.

From the corner of her eye, she felt the shadows shift. Her breathing became irregular as she turned to look all around her. On one side, the standard curtain was put up and she could see a little light—the one that always came through under the infirmary doors. On the other side was nothing. There was no wall, no beds—just nothing. She swallowed painfully.

She gasped and quickly turned to face a corner opposite to her bed. There it went again—movement in the shadows. Alice's hands moved of their own accord to circle her throat. She could still feel Sirius fingers there. She could almost swear that they were still wrapped there around her throat—not constricting, but still there.

An owl hooting made the female Auror start and lower her hands quickly—almost guiltily. Sweat beaded on her brow as she tugged her sheets into her lap. Leaning over the bed, she watched the bed skirt ruffle in the wind. Another hoot made her sit back upright and tug the sheets up to her chin. Her back was the only thing exposed to the cold room, but she felt as if someone had dropped her whole body into a frozen lake.

With her breathing turning into wheezing, Alice dropped to the floor from her bed. Black spots danced before her eyes and her head felt light. Almost like a dream, Alice could feel a hand on her shoulder. She closed her eyes to place the feeling, but the hand on her shoulder shook her. It was like the hand was trying to get her to pay attention, but to what?

Opening her eyes, Alice almost wished she had stayed unconscious. He was there, staring her right in the face. His grey eyes glinted maliciously and an evil smile curled across his lips like he was happy to come back and finish what he had started. The hand on her shoulder—his nails began to dig into her flesh.

"No, no, no…" Alice shook her head as she pushed back from the bed. His face still followed her as she got to her knees, "Please! I'm sorry!"

Alice got to her feet and unsteadily ran towards the infirmary doors. She turned to look back to see if he was following. She looked back in front, but it was too late as she ran into some curtains. Behind the curtain there was a small table set up and Alice felt herself trip over that to. As she went down Alice felt cold, clammy hands curl around her throat. They fell into the pattern already left there and began to tighten.

"Please! He's fine—I promise! He's with Snape!" The hands around her throat tightened and she could feel the skin of her neck begin to tear under the pressure, "I-I didn't say anything…"

The doors to the infirmary office burst open and light flooded the front part of the infirmary. Alice scrabbled at the floor, trying to fight her way to the light. If she got there, at least he would disappear for a while. He had to. She saw the mediwitch enter her line of vision. Alice choked on the words she wanted to say as he shook her by her neck.

She could make out the kindly matron and her partner Kingsley. Dumbledore was in the background—staring at her with a strange look on his face. There were other people there, but they were just shadows. She saw a flicker of resignation in Albus's eyes before something the matron said made her sputter. Both she and Kingsley were trying to remove the hands from around her neck, but for some reason, Sirius just didn't want to let go.

"H-help m-me…please!" Alice gasped frantically, "He's g-going to k-kill me!"

"We're trying!" Kingsley snapped, "But you've got to help us help you!"

Alice swallowed convulsively as the hands were snatched away from her neck. Tears fell from her eyes as she slid back into the wall. The matron was casting safe, medical, helpful spells, but Alice couldn't help but flinch in the fear that they might mutate into something else. She nearly leapt from her skin when the mediwitch reached out and touched her neck.

"Alice, calm down. It's just me: Poppy."

"_Mommy_…"

"What?"

Kingsley frowned, "She's saying something, hush everyone! What did you say?"

"_Mommy_…" Alice sobbed, "He kept saying _mommy_…" She wrapped her bloody hands in her hair and tugged, "_I should have known_…He's _dead, dead, dead_…"

Dumbledore kneeled down by Alice and touched her hand gently, "Who's dead, Alice? 'You should have known' what?"

"_Harry Potter_ you bastard!" Alice screeched, "Harry Potter is _dead_ you monster! And _you_ killed him! You killed them _both_!"

Kingsley pushed Alice back into the floor as her hands flew out to grab the Headmaster. Her eyes had lost focus and she looked mad. Maybe she was—an encounter with Sirius seemed to do that to people. They always seemed to…change. She struggled to push Kingsley's hands away with a frightened look in her eyes. She scratched and pulled like he was hurting her.

The mediwitch's eyes widened, "Let her go! Back up! She's suffocating!"

The dark Auror snatched his hands away and scooted backwards across the floor. Poppy mimicked his scooting, but kept close enough to cast a restraining spell if he had to. Throwing up softening spells, the matron was determined to wait this out. She needed to be close enough so she could keep Alice's hands from going to her own neck. She watched the young woman struggle for breath and grab at the stones on the floor.

"Alice…?"

The Longbottom matriarch curled up on her side and turned her head to press her forehead to the cool stones, "I should have _known_…"

Moody sniffed, "You ain't gettin' anything more from her now Albus. She's as good as dead."

"I suppose your right." The headmaster conceded, "Put her to bed then. I'll see what I can decipher of her words."

Alice stared at the wall. Everyone was talking about her—just outside the room door. The kindly mediwitch had placed her in a room with no windows and had left the light on. Alice couldn't sleep with the light on, but she didn't want to be left alone in the dark either. Because he was always there…every time she closed her eyes, she could still see his desperate, deranged face. In the dark, she could still see him lurking there.

The terrorized woman slowly slid from her bed to the floor. The cold nipped at her feet, but she took no notice as she looked underneath her bed. There was no bed skirt—it was supposed to make her feel safe, like the light could touch anywhere that Sirius might be hiding. They keep telling her that he isn't here, but she knew better. He was always with her.

She crawled silently over to the door and rested her back against the dark wood. Although the wood was thick, she could still make out voices on the other side. It sounded like they were talking through water or thick glass. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them.

"You're not getting anything from her Albus. This is just like Pettigrew."

"But Pettigrew was turned into his animagus and his magic had been bled into the castle."

"No, Remus is right. Pettigrew changed when he started talking about their plans. Think about it: every time Alice tries to tell us what happened, her throat constricts and she starts to suffocate."

"That could just be her fear. Just give her time to recover."

Oh Albus…the things he doesn't know. Why did he always push so hard?

"Fear?!" This was Poppy, Alice knew. She always defended Alice, "You want to talk about fear? Every time she closes her eyes she can see him. She can't even be left alone in the dark or she might suffocate!"

"She said it was Sirius. It might be a spell."

Hah, like Moody would know. He could see if it was a spell of some sort. Nothing gets by him…but why did this?

"There is no spell, Moody. This is all Alice."

Kingsley. What would he know? He didn't even go with her to retrieve Harry.

"What was it?"

Good old Remus. He always knows when something isn't right.

"She…she was strangling…herself."

Really? Alice didn't remember moving her hands.

"Dear god…"

And there went that feeling again: the feeling that she should have known—she should have known that Harry Potter was dead. He had died long ago and no one wanted to accept it…_she_ didn't want to accept it. She couldn't. All that was left was little Harry Black—the son of Sirius Black.

Alice rested her head on her knees and cried.

**x.X.x**_ …It's growing inside of me…_** x.X.x**

"Good evening Severus—Harry." Lucius greeted. Narcissa just nodded to Snape and smiled down at Harry.

It had been a few months since he had seen Harry. He had learned to bring Narcissa often enough once she found out as well. The boy looked more and more like Regulus every day—personality and looks…but he had Snape's biting tongue in his mouth often. It was a kind of disconcerting mix. Harry was usually such a kind and gentle boy.

Stranger yet, Harry had instantly taken to Narcissa like only a child could. While he didn't look to her like a mother in any sense, he still glued himself to her side when he was in want of anything. Stranger yet, he never asked anything of her but to occasionally hold her hand or to sit next to her.

"Good evening Uncle Severus and Harry." Draco followed politely.

For his part, Draco had not really gotten along with Harry in a…kind of manner that both adults would have liked, but the boys were friends, and that was enough. For the moment at least. Even if they continuously tortured one another out of pure childish spite.

"Lucius, Narcissa…Draco," Intoned Snape.

Harry just stared at the three guests with something akin to curiosity and distrust. Severus nudged him slightly, but Harry still didn't open his mouth to say anything. Snape sighed.

"It's proper to greet our guests Harry." He hissed.

"They're _your_ guests; not _mine_." The boy eyed Snape suspiciously. A smile crossed Narcissa's lips, "'Sides, you did that already."

The professor was sure his eye twitched and that he probably had an ulcer growing in his stomach for all his troubles, "You are supposed to greet them as well you heinous boy."

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy," Harry said it like an angel. He turned to Draco and pouted, "I don' even know why I should say hullo to _you_." And there was that biting tongue.

"It shows good breeding and manners," Draco shot back, "Both of which you seem to lack."

"Blah, blah, blah…" Harry motioned mouthing motions with his hand. Draco's mouth dropped in an undignified manner and Lucius grimaced, "It's not like _you're_ any better with _your_ horrid manners."

"Silence you peasant!" Draco shoved Harry harshly. Harry stared at Draco in shock and moved to push him back.

Severus smacked Harry soundly on his wrist before he had a chance. The sting stopped Harry from moving any further in his endeavor, "Apologize this instant you infernal boy!"

"You will apologize as well Draco. That was uncalled for, hm?" Lucius

"I didn't even do anything!" Draco pouted.

"Enough!" Narcissa snapped, "You will both kiss and make up this instant or else!"

Draco huffed but let out an almost inaudible, "Sorry…"

Severus lifted a brow and pushed Harry forward when the boy made no move to say or do anything, "Well? Get on with it boy."

"Okay, okay…jus' gimme a break. I never did this a'fore." Harry wiped his hands on his trouser legs, "Do…do I _have_ to…?"

"Just apologize, boy." Snape said impatiently.

Harry walked over to Draco and kissed the other boy smack on the mouth.

Narcissa placed a hand on her lower throat and made a little noise—Lucius cleared his throat, looking away in composed shock—brows raised. While the shock didn't show up in his face, Severus knew it was still there. After all, no one expected Harry to take the command so literally.

The raven-haired child then wrapped his arms around the taller boy's neck and grumbled out a much louder, "I'm sorry Draco...what I said was wrong."

Severus made a noise in the back of his throat.

"Can we go play now?"

When neither man nor woman answered, Harry took that as an okay to go. He grabbed onto Draco's hand and pulled him from the living area to his room. A small snort came from Narcissa's direction as the door to Snape's bedroom closed.

"Drink?" Snape asked.

"Please." Lucius answered.

The three sat in the living room talking about random information as the boy's played. Narcissa had yet to see what the boys could get up to while they played, but Snape and Lucius knew it would only be a matter of moments before their mischief was brought into light. They didn't know how right they were.

"Father!" A smug drawling voice called, "Look what _I _did!"

"_Daddy_!" An indignant shout, "Look at what Draco did!"

Severus started. The first voice he knew for certain was Draco, but the second one caught him off guard. The first time Harry had said the word, Severus marked it down as a slip of tongue. This time however…Even Lucius was staring at him in undisguised shock.

"He refers to you as…"

Snape cut him off, "Slip of tongue—nothing more."

"Well, the boy spends all his time with you. He was bound to grow attached sometime." Narcissa took a sip from her tea cup.

"He does not spend all his time with me." Snape said slowly. He hadn't realized.

"Severus please, I haven't heard that boy spout off a tale about any place other than your suite."

"Well it's not my fault that infernal boy won't leave," Snape sneered, "It's not like I locked him up here. It's his choice on what he wants to do."

"Yes. I suppose…"

Both boys stormed from Harry's room then, Harry first with Draco trailing behind. Draco wore a thousand watt smile while Harry had an expression reminiscent of one of Snape's usual sneers. They stopped near the two grown men and Draco's mother who had yet to say anything. They all openly stared at Harry in abject horror and swallowed.

"I didn't know you had a daughter, Severus." Narcissa tutted.

"I don't."

"Mrs. Malfoy!" Harry cried indignantly, "It's_ me_!"

Harry was breathing heavily, his cheeks flushed with an angry blush—eyes burning fiercely. He was outfitted head to toe in a Lolita styled sailor suit. The bowed hat on his head was askew as was the puffy skirt. Lucius was sure he saw Snape's lips twitch with holding back laughter. But with Snape, you could never be too sure.

"Daddy, this is an outrage!" Harry pointed to Draco, "Do you see what he did to me?! He won't even change me back!"

Draco stepped forward, "Oh, please! I didn't do it on purpose. Besides, you said you liked the color black."

"Yeah—**on my dad** you jerk!"

"Well at least you match."

Harry lifted his skirts and looked underneath with a squeak, "_Daddy_!"

Snape opened his mouth to correct Harry from calling him 'daddy', but a quick shake of Narcissa's head had him snapping his mouth shut. Perhaps he would correct the boy later when he didn't have company.

Draco snickered under his breath, but quickly swallowed it with an audible sound as a cool tingling sensation rushed over his form. Slowly examining himself with trembling hands, Draco's face scrunched up and turned red with embarrassment.

"Father!"

"Now we're even you ponce," Harry snorted and mocked, "but don't worry, 'at least you match'."

"You peasant!" Draco leapt forward to grab Harry. Lucius, knowing Draco's temper, quickly caught his son by a stray…petticoat.

Harry moved to stand behind Narcissa who tittered in amusement and made a face at the blonde boy, "Bleh!"

"Now, now boys," Lucius pulled out his wand, "I'm sure this isn't something that can't be fixed with the flick of a wand."

Just as those words escaped past Lucius's lips, the floo activated and Minerva's voce could clearly be heard calling, "Severus! Quick, Sirius Black just appeared into the Great Hall!"

**x.X.x**_ …They won, they will come to life…_** x.X.x**

Sirius landed in the Great Hall with a thud. He instinctively rolled into a controlled crouch as the teachers and students leapt from their seats to and from the intruder respectively. Shouts rang through the hall that was quickly clearing of children and all exits being blocked by the staff.

The wand on the floor cracked down the middle and slowly began to leak a purplish black substance. Sirius stared at it with a malicious glint in his eye. As Dumbledore neared him, he kicked the broken wand in the man's direction—stopping him from advancing any further.

There was a break in the crowd that was rushing out the door and a familiar tawny colored head popped into his vision. Briefly, Sirius was sure he heard a small squeak as Remus pulled himself free from the fleeing students.

"Sirius?!" Remus exclaimed.

"Where is he Moony?" Sirius asked lowly, "Where is my son?"

"Siri…Harry's with Severus but—"

"I want to see him!" Sirius bolted to the door to have his way blocked by Remus.

The shorter man used his more considerable strength to hold Sirius back from the door, "Hold on a minute Sirius!"

"No! I need to see him," Sirius snapped, "I need to know he's okay!"

The black haired man kicked and clawed at Remus. The werewolf growled and hoisted the thin man from the floor. He twisted slightly and dropped the other man against the wall, "Sirius! Get a hold of yourself!"

Sirius reached out a long nailed hand and swiped at the werewolf's face. Remus let the other man go and pulled away. Inside, Moony growled at the blatant challenge to his wolf. Sirius glared hard at Remus. Why was Moony holding him back?

A small voice called Sirius from the other side of the room. Suddenly the world seemed to narrow, tilt and spin. The only thing there was, was him and this familiar voice that called to him even in his waking dreams.

"Mommy!" Harry cried.

Sirius turned to Harry, to see him standing behind Snape. Narcissa was holding the boy in place and Sirius silently thanked her, even if it was just her motherly instincts to keep him out of the fray. Before he could take a step towards Harry, however, Kingsley blocked his way.

"Just give me Harry, and I'll go."

Minerva shook her head as she came to stand by the Auror, "We can't do that Sirius. You must come with us to the Ministry."

"Why?! So I can be thrown in Azkaban and never see the light of day again?!" He took a menacing step forward only to come face to face and chest with two wands.

The scuffle was short. The only thing holding Sirius from gravel harming anyone was the promise that he'd get to see Harry no matter where he went—whether it be Azkaban or the old school's dungeons. He was being held by Kingsley as Remus made his way over.

"Mommy!" Harry called out again.

"Stay in there, Harry!" Sirius growled, "I'll get you when I'm done here."

"But mommy…" Harry began to push past Snape and wriggle from Narcissa's arms.

"Do as I say and stay there you little shit!" Sirius snapped angrily.

No one but Remus knew he meant the wolf and not the boy as he stopped short.

Harry nodded and stayed put behind Severus—holding tightly to the man's cloak. The older man frowned at this but said nothing. He didn't even reprimand Harry when the boy buried his face in Snape's back and cried. He even felt a little bereft when Narcissa pried Harry's little hands free and tugged him into her arms.

**x.X.x**_ …Have to save…to save my beloved…_** x.X.x**

WINTER

"I told you he would come."

"You did…but he still has not said a thing."

"Remus…you doubt he was anything less than a Deatheater." It was a cruel statement.

"He has not given me reason to believe otherwise." But true nonetheless.

"The mark?"

"It was already half gone. Pure ink—like Peter's mark."

There was silence.

"Albus…do you really think the dungeons will be enough to hold him?"

More silence.

Then, "We can only hope."

Alice back away from the cracked door slowly. Sirius Black was here…in the castle! She had to find him. The suffocating feeling slowly crept in on her as she made her way to the dungeons. She just had to see him, that's all. Just once more.

The door was bolted shut with heavy wood and was warded against all magic. Alice supposed it was all well since she couldn't use her wand anymore anyway. It was hard trying to hold it steady when thinking about that warped spell Sirius shot at her.

It was dark and very, very wet. Molds climbed the walls and have seemed to take on a luminescent glow. Perhaps it was just the potions fumes from the students over the years or the ambient magic that was always on the air at Hogwarts. They comforted her very little.

There was a wall separating her and the cell where Sirius was. Could she do this? If it had been a yes, the cold voice that rang out killed that chance.

"Where's my son Alice?"

The Auror bit her fingernails and cowered behind the wall. She knew that if she looked around the corner, she'd probably not make it back out. Now that she thought about it, she didn't understand why she came down here to see the very man that tried to kill her. Did she want to look him in the eye? Did she want to prove something to herself? Did she even have anything to prove?

"I know you have him!"

She tangled her fingers in her hair and swallowed a wet cry. It echoed in the room, sounding like a wet choking sound. It sounded like she was being strangled. Alice swallowed around the blood pooling in her mouth. She had gone and bitten through her quick again and began nibbling into her fingertips. There just never seemed to be enough nail to bite.

"You better give him back to me, Alice."

Sirius whistled a short little tune that she remembered from when she went to school. She could hear him tapping his fingers on the bars of his prison—his cell—his cage. She could hear his choking sobs as the tune abruptly stopped to accommodate them.

She could even hear her blood pounding in her ears as she leaned around the corner. It was funny, she didn't think there was enough blood in her body for her to hear it, but there it was: the steady pounding of her fluttering heart.

"At least let me know that he's alright…"

The animagus looked so worn out. Tear tracks stained his face and dirt, bile and blood stained his clothes, face and body. She didn't really want to know where all that disgusting bile had come from, but she couldn't stop her eyes from falling to what should have been the small body of Peter Pettigrew. She bit into her knuckles.

"Where's my boy Alice?!" Sirius raged. He banged his fists against the floor and shook the bars on his cell door. "Where is my baby…?" The pale man sank slowly to the floor as if he deflated like a balloon and stretched his hands out between the bars, "I just want my baby…"

Placing her back against the wall, Alice took a deep breath. She rocked her body against the wall, creating a dull thudding echo. She wasn't sure if the echo was in the room, or just part of the loud thoughts in her head. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself—shuddering at the cold of the room and the iciness of the drying blood.

"I'm so sorry…he wasn't supposed to get hurt…he wasn't supposed to die. Not him. Not like that."

"He was a good man." Alice sniffled, "Why?"

It was silent in the room then, "It wasn't supposed to happen like that. Everyone was supposed to be fine. He wasn't supposed to get in the way…why did he get in the way?" The last question he almost seemed to ask himself more than Alice.

The Auror closed her eyes. "You loved him."

"More than he'll ever know."

"You love his son."

"More than life itself." The man quietly admitted, "Alice…he's all I have left." The Longbottom matriarch leaned back against the stone and stared at the moldy ceiling, "Please don't take him from me…"

Alice buried her face in her knees and cried, "I won't."

**x.X.x**_ …There is no escape…_** x.X.x**

Kingsley looked down at the book on Alice's night stand. Over the course of a few months, she had somehow come to make the infirmary her home. It was kind of disturbing, but no one—not even the Headmaster could find it in them to ship her off to St. Mungos.

The book was about creating portkeys without a wand. It wasn't anything out of the norm for Alice. After she had lost the ability to use her wand properly—mostly out of fear than anything else—she had looked into ways of doing things without a wand. It wasn't quite wandless as she never planned to rid of her wand, but more of channeling.

Right now, she had her back to Kingsley. He automatically assumed that she was asleep, so he didn't bother her. He just sat and watched her—wondering where the brave wife of Frank Longbottom had gone.

A hand on his shoulder brought Shackelbolt from his musings. It was Lupin.

"The Headmaster wishes to have a word with you."

Kingsley nodded and stood. He left the ward without looking back. Remus quietly stepped up next to Alice's bed and rested a hand on her exposed shoulder. He leaned over her form and let his lips stray to her ear. To anyone, it would just look as if he was kissing her cheek.

"If you go to the dungeons now, you will have just over two hours before Albus sends Moody down for another interrogation."

Remus pulled his hand away and left the room. Alice turned ever so slightly and looked at the object that Remus dropped to her bed. It was a small mirror gilded with tarnished gold, but it had no handle. Etched into the glass were Lily's initials.

Gold like this was practically made for the infusion of magic. While it was good for the occasional portkey, it was most ideal for a trans-continental jump. This was her key to creating that portkey that would transport Harry safely back to his loved ones.

Slipping from her bed, Alice slunk her way back to the dungeons. She constantly looked over her shoulder—worried that there was someone behind her. Strange, how even the pictures ignored her here. She was losing all reason.

Struggling with the door, Alice slipped inside and crouched down by the wall. She buried her head in her arms and tried to catch her fleeting breath. She could do this. She had to. Leaning just around the corner, Alice watched Sirius torture some small animal in his possession.

Alice walked over to the cell and dropped to her knees in front of the man. "Sirius."

Curling her nose in disgust, Alice flinched violently as the last Black grabbed her hospital robe front and hauled her close to the bars. "I did it Alice…okay? I protected them all…even if they didn't deserve it."

Alice struggled to pull away. The bars were pressing painfully into her chest and ribs. It felt like Sirius was trying to pull her clear through the evenly spaced bars. "What are you talking about?! Please! I just—"

Sirius threw down the small animal he had in his hand and Alice watched, horrified as it fell limp from the impact. Would Sirius harm her like that now—before she had the chance to help him? She almost gagged as Sirius tugged violently at the skin of his left arm where only half of the dark mark lay.

She swallowed against the bile building in her throat as the flesh on the man's arm ripped open under his treacherous fingers. She wanted to yell at him—to tell him to stop. It was disgusting—it was so wrong. The glint of something metallic stopped her.

Fascinated to a disturbing point, Alice watched Sirius pull a necklace of some sort free from his fore-arm. He did this so fast that she didn't have the time to place where she had seen it before. It also came as a complete surprise when Sirius grabbed her pale hands with his own, bloodied ones.

It was strangely warm, though slippery—very different from what Alice could have imagined. He set his fist over her open palm and she shivered as he dropped something heavy, warm and slick with blood into her palm. He closed her hands tightly around the object before she had a chance to glimpse at it.

The thing in her hand pulsed with life and she felt dirty by just how dark it was. Was this a store of magic? Did this belong to someone he knew? It was all Alice could think about as Sirius took her other hand and wrapped them both around the trinket.

She hardly hesitated as Sirius leaned towards her and whispered three damning words across her lips.

"_I killed them_."

**x.X.x**_ …Because my fate is horror and doom…_** x.X.x**

Poppy sighed for the nth time that night and stirred her tea. Severus sniffed and flipped another page in the journal. Narcissa just sat with a stiff back, her eyes darting over to the door. A noise sounded on the other side of the door that caused Poppy to stop her movements.

"Alice?"

"I'm ready…"

"Ready for what, Alice?"

Alice leaned heavily against the door and sighed. She couldn't hide this anymore. Someone had to know. They had to understand why she was doing the things she did and why. She wasn't doing it for herself, no; she knew that her part had come to an end. But if she could prevent the worst from happening, then perhaps little Harry had a chance—perhaps the wizarding world had a chance.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Alice's voice came through the door. It was nothing more than a whisper, but they heard it nonetheless.

"I'm ready…I'll tell you everything."

Narcissa stood from her chair quickly as Alice stumbled over to her. Alice grasped one of the pale hands and laid her clenched fist over the open palm. She let drop the item in her hands and closed Narcissa's hand too quickly for the blonde witch to know what had been placed there.

"There is a chance for you…there is a chance for them all…"

"Alice!" Poppy rushed forward just as the Auror passed out from stress, "Severus, please help me get her to a bed and fetch some potions."

The Malfoy matriarch watched slightly stricken as Alice Longbottom was levitated from the room. It was only by chance she remembered that Alice had left something in her possession. Chance…or the warm, tickling line being drawn into her hand by blood.

Opening her hand slowly, Narcissa dropped her cup and covered her lips to hide the traitorous gasp that left her lips.

In the palm of her hand sat Slytherin's golden locket.

Marked with the initials R.A.B.

**x.X.x**_ …Hold down your head now…_** x.X.x**

SPRING

"You know what Snape?" Sirius whispered hoarsely, "I _did_ do it."

It had been almost a year now and still, they've gotten nothing of use from the Black. His mind was already too far gone for even the most skilled of healers to fix. None of this mattered to Sirius however, as he seemed to revel in their confusion. He often compared them to chickens without heads.

"What are you talking about Black?"

Sirius smiled softly and allowed Peter to crawl down his arm and eat the crumbs from his hand. Where he found those crumbs were left to the imagination. There was no telling where he founds anything these days. He stroked the rat's head gently and held him out of the window, "If I drop him, do you think he'll live?"

What an absurd question. "Black, don't toy with me."

"Or what, Dracula? You'll bite me?" He let out a barking laugh and pulled his hand back in. Peter crawled around his hand and made a leap for the floor. Sirius quickly snagged the rat's tail and held him up in the air, "Oh, Peter…I told you what would happen, didn't I? Why do you always have to speak…?"

Severus's eyes narrowed at Sirius's words, "How did you know that rat was Pettigrew?"

"Come on Snivellus," Sirius said snidely, "Peter was my friend…how could I not recognize this rat? I was the one to put the spell on him—the traitor."

Snape didn't say anything. He hoped Sirius would continue along this vein. Even the tiniest information would help. Sometimes, he wondered if Albus had planned for this—Sirius talking to his hated rival. After all, why would Snape care enough to tell anyone?

"I know what you're thinking. You all think I cursed Alice…right? Well I didn't. I just want to put her in that safe place…where Frank is." Sirius snorted.

The potions master sneered and stood up to leave. This was useless. One minuite Black seemed to be telling the truth, in the next, he seemed to only be toying with them. It was hard to tell what was real and what was not. If Dumbledore wanted information, he'd have to come get it himself.

He gathered his things and began to shrink them to put away when Sirius decided to open his mouth again and let out a slow, hurt laughter. He was holding Pettigrew by the scruff of his neck and balancing the rat's body in his hand. He laughed until tears ran down his face.

"I gave them all the evidence they need Snape." Sirius hissed, "Let them destroy themselves—I will have no part in it. Just give me my son and let me leave."

"Potter is not your son, Black. No matter what you may think."

Sirius just stared, "But he _is_, Snape. _I made sure of it_."

Snape watched in horrified disgust as Sirius tossed Pettigrew into the air. The animagus snatched the rat from the air and squeezed it in the palm of his hand. The rat let out three short terrified squeaks before Severus could hear the audible cracking of the rat's bones and the squish of his internal organs. Blood and other unmentionable substances rushed out from between Black's fingers as he laughed.

"It was a potion."

"It was a potion." Sirius agreed.

He laughed so hard that tears once again fell from his eyes. Sirius swallowed his laughter and turned to face Severus through the bars of his cell. He let the small rat body fall to the ground with a sick splat as he wrapped his hands around the cold bars. Severus swallowed the rising bile in his throat. Sometimes he wished that he had left the room before Sirius decided to whisper those damning words into the silent atmosphere.

"_I _killed the Potters…_I killed Lily_…"

**x.X.x**_ …Just let me pass by…_** x.X.x**

SUMMER—Next year

Sirius was sure he had already lost his mind. On some strange level, he could almost understand his crazy bitch of a cousin Bellatrix—why she acted the way she did and said the things she said. Perhaps it was the Black family curse. In his pocket, his hand tightened over the necklace he had ripped from Alice's neck all those months ago. He hoped it didn't pass to Harry.

It was dark. Sirius could tell by how much colder and dank the cell got. It almost felt like Azkaban on a good day, or so he'd been told. Bella quite enjoyed it at least. He was waiting. He was waiting for the thing Alice promised him. After she took Regulus's locket, Sirius knew she would come back. She had to.

Alice looked fearfully around the corner as she tightly gripped Harry's hand. She tugged him quickly round another corner and then almost dragged him both down a flight of stairs. Getting fed up; she lifted Harry into her arms and tucked him tightly to her chest. He was so small and light—feeling like a small teddy bear in her arms.

It was hard to persuade the boy from Snape's side, but she managed. She promised that he could see his mother. Who was she to go back on a promise like that? So she had pleaded with Snape to let her stay with Harry. She told him that she had to see him as he was just one last time. Though, at the time she said these things, it wasn't exactly a lie.

This _was_ the last time she would see Harry like this.

She set the boy on his feet as she came across a bolted door. She looked at the heavy bolt and attempted to push at the heavy metal.

**x.X.x **_…Don't feed my fear… _**x.X.x**

"Mommy!"

Sirius bolted up from the floor and grabbed Harry through the bars, "Harry—my baby! Are you alright? Did they do terrible things to you?"

He looked almost sane for a moment, Alice mused. There was a light in his eyes that she could not quite place. She didn't even want to liken them to tears. No…that would make him something almost…alive.

Harry hugged Sirius tightly around the neck, "No mama, I'm fine. I missed you!"

"Oh, and I missed you…" Sirius held tightly to Harry—squeezing him tightly, like if he let go, Harry would disappear again. He stared directly at Alice and murmured, "Thank you."

With a brief flash, the portkey activated and took them home. Alice dropped to her knees on the floor and lay down facing the remains of Pettigrew's body. Her breath came in short, stopping breaths, but this time she didn't fight it.

She could feel Sirius's icy grip on her throat as tears blurred her eyes. She had done the right thing. No matter what anyone says, Harry Potter no longer existed. All there was…was a broken man and his broken little boy.

Sirius was smiling at her and in that brief moment of clarity, Alice realized that he _was_ happy. The fingers around her neck bled warmth and there were tears in his eyes. It might be because her own eyes were blurring, but she didn't think so. He was happy and so was she. If she had to live in fear for the rest of her life, she didn't want to live.

In another room, the flash of another portkey went off, leaving the bed where her son lay—empty.

**x.X.x**_ …If you don't want it out…_** x.X.x**

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**ENDNOTE**

A heads up to everyone: you will be seeing Snape again. Well if not seeing him, he will be mentioned. Like mentioned already, this chapter is a bit pushed and choppy. I'll be bappyto clean up anything.

Thanks for reading!

**Lexicon:**

Word_**//**_Tribe_**//**_Meaning

**ASHKII**: Navajo: "boy"

**ADSILA**: Cherokee: "blossom"

**ASGAYA**: Cherokee: "man"

**AGEHYA**: Cherokee: "woman"

**ASKOOK**: Algonquin: "snake"

**SHIRIKI**: Pawnee: "coyote"

**ACHAK**: Algonquin: "spirit"

**HONIAHAKA**: Cheyenne: "little wolf"

**SHIYE**: Navajo: "son"

**SHIZHE'E**: Navajo: "father."

**HOK'EE**: Navajo: "abandoned."

**BILAGAANA**: Navajo: "white person."

**NOSH/NOSHI**: Algonquin: "father."


	5. Cloud Constructor

**A/N:** LATE. I know you want to spork me right about now. Please don't. Feel free to _imagine_ painful torture though. Harry gets his first taste of the Cullens BRIEFLY in this chapter. Blink and you'll miss them. This is not meant to be an absurd long AN, but I would like to state that with the direction my life is going, I just didn't feel the motivation I used to feel for writing anything. The sporadic update just might continue while I outline the next few chapters, so I won't constrict myself to a certain time.

So uh, for the sake of posting it because this never would have come out otherwise: this is dedicated to Crystallyn, dhh, Ichigo Mirai, Ameths, Celestialuna, and evil-sami-poo. Especially dhh who pointed out a few things to me and Crystallyn whose review made me smile and really happy inside. And the rest of my reviewers and alerts, you guys are all awesome terrific.

**Chapter Specific Warning(s):** Um…swearing, minor time jumps (Again, I only touched on certain things that happens before Harry turns 15), more blatant disrespect for elders, and a little bit of shota (again). You might have to squint again because this time it's between Jacob and Harry. Uh, slash of non-Harry origin…and a really big time jump at the end (last one before he's officially 15). I only alluded to ages in this chapter, but nothing concrete until the end.

**After this chapter, everything will be more mainstream and less jumping between scenes.**

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**x.X.x**

_Cloud Constructor_

**x.X.x**

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**x.X.x**_ …Life as it seemed to the circling man…_** x.X.x**

Billy jumped from his seat as a loud crash came from the back of his home. His knees ground a little in protest, but he ignored them. He silently walked over to the window next to the door and pressed his back against the wall. He narrowed his eyes and slowed his breathing—listening for any sound. Hacking and a child's coughs reached his ears.

There was the sound of crumbling wood and moving debris. It sounded like whoever was out there was digging their way out of a pile of wood. He really hoped that whoever it was didn't demolish his back porch. Leaning forward, Billy peeked out the window and sighed heavily. He walked over to the back door scratching his head and opened the door.

Sirius rolled over on his back uncovering Harry in the process. The young boy coughed in the dust and pushed some of the wood from beside him. Billy was awash with a warm happy feeling mixed with another feeling that he couldn't quite place. He was happy that they were back, but he was also…disappointed? Scared? Angry?

Neither man said anything as Sirius got up and dusted himself off. He pulled Harry to his feet and dusted him off—perhaps a bit too harshly as Harry grunted from hit to hit. There was a cloud of tension as thick as the dust clouded around them hovering in the air. Billy cleared his throat and rubbed his arm—Sirius standing awkwardly in a pile of broken wood and debris.

"Really Sirius, the roof of my back porch?"

"I…" Sirius's lips twitched once and he let out a barking laugh.

Billy let out a breath of relief as the tension dissolved from around them. He belted out a laugh and leaned over to help both males from the sharp, dangerous pile. The Quileute pulled Harry into a tight hug as soon as he was released and kissed his hands.

"_Sicheii_," Harry giggled.

"I'm sorry Hadrian," Billy brushed Harry's hair out of his face, "I'm just happy that we can still say your name _ciqala_."

"I'm okay _sicheii_…" Harry mumbled, "They took care of me." He wriggled from the older man's grasp and ran to the door, "Is Jacob home?"

Billy stared up at Sirius as Harry disappeared into the house without waiting for an answer. "There is much you have not yet told me my brother. Is something amiss?"

Sirius didn't look the man in the face when he spoke, "He…he's too young to have the world placed on his shoulders…he wasn't born to be a savior…I'll do anything to save him from having to sacrifice himself for the lives of people who are determined not to save themselves."

"The tale of the '_kachada wemilat'_—the pale-faced magic man told of when he traveled through here…" Billy gruffed, "I thought it was just some stupid tale the English wizard had made up."

"The what? What do you mean?" Sirius knelt down next to his cousin. "A Pureblood Wizard came through here?"

Billy sighed and picked at a bit of his grass, dropping the pieces into the wind. Sirius was filthy and smelled of decay. His face was unshaven and a bit more sunken in, "What have they done to you…?"

Sirius frowned but did not answer. "What was this wizard's name?"

The Quileute looked away with a furrow in his brow, "I think it was…Trelawney. Abel Trelawney. He had a descendant, who was a _Seer_, named Cassandra—she was giving birth to a little girl. I believe he was going to name her Sybil."

"Billy…" Sirius looked into the man's face and searched it out for any sign that he was lying about anything he just said. When he found none, Sirius placed a hand on the man's arm, "Sybil Trelawney was the Seer whom we heard of Harry's fate."

The Quileute pat Sirius's trembling hand, "Then perhaps there was truth in those old tales we entertained for so long."

Sirius snatched his hand back as if burned and ran it through his tangled hair, "Don't say that! I don't believe it…I won't let this happen."

"It will happen whether you wish it to or not. And in spite of all that, you have a role to play in all of this as well."

Burying his face in his hands, Sirius snorted, "Yeah? What am I supposed to do? I can't protect him from something like this…I can't even protect him from myself."

Billy winced for that was true, "No," he agreed, "You cannot."

"I can't protect him from everything."

"Then perhaps you should not. The _ashkii_ needs some kind of support—even if it is…unhealthy." Billy almost whispered the last word, "You are Harry's…mother and you should do what it is that mothers do best—you love him."

"I just…what if he needs more than that? I won't let him leave me..."

"He wouldn't leave you." The Quileute stated firmly, "He loves you far too much to do that—it's unhealthy how much he loves you. It's unhealthy how much you love your son…" The last sentence was whispered under his breath.

"I don't know that!" Sirius said harshly, "He'll eventually feel the need to leave me—what would I do then? How can I help him?"

"Just love him."

And Sirius would.

**x.X.x**_ …As he gazed into discarded land…_** x.X.x**

It was September, two months since their return had passed and the rejoicing had died down. Sirius had settled into a semi-normal life. He still had not told Billy what had happened to him, but the other man wasn't exactly in the dark either. Harry would often regale his tales of what happened while he was there. He was still just a boy, so magic and the whole idea of the castle was still something to be amazed with. Billy knew this was not the full truth, but he never pushed his cousin.

Sifting through the mail off the counter, Sirius nearly spat out his tea. There was no envelope as muggles were so partial to, but the paper was rather thick, heavy and yellowed; tiny fibers of hair could still be made out in the paper. It was parchment. Flipping it over, Sirius swallowed thickly as he stared down at the Hogwarts coat of arms—Harry's name written elegantly across the surface.

Breaking the seal, Sirius flipped open the letter. He allowed for the other mail to flop back to the counter as he read. He slowly placed his cup on the counter next to the mail and lifted his eyes from the paper. He stared out at Harry and Jacob playing out in the yard. He even stared out long after both boys retreated inside from the rain.

"Sirius?"

A hand landed on the animagus's shoulder and he nearly jumped from his skin, "Shit!"

"Are you alright?" The Quileute man asked concernedly.

"Fine." Sirius shook his head and looked over at his cousin. "…I just got some rather disturbing mail."

One look at the parchment and Billy could piece the unspoken story together. "They found you?"

Sirius sighed and looked back down at the letter. "Not exactly." He handed the parchment over, "It's from a specific person and to be honest, he isn't about to tell everyone where we are. He wouldn't."

Billy read over the paper hurriedly, not really taking it all in. "Then why do you seem so upset this man has written you?"

"I…well I just…" Sirius made a frustrated sound, "Did it have to be _Snape_?"

"Isn't that the one who took care of Hadrian when he was with your wizards?" Billy dropped the letter back in front of the grim, "Perhaps you should speak with your boy. Maybe something happened while you were separated from him?"

"But with _Snape_?" Sirius snorted, "Not bloody likely."

"Cousin…you've got to assume at least—"

"No!" Sirius snapped, "My son wouldn't talk to that…that _thing_."

He blatantly ignored the fact that Severus was the one whom he told everything. Next to Alice, he was the only one who could either get them caught and killed or left alone. He also ignored the fact that he still carried the woman's necklace in his pocket.

It was a week and another letter before Sirius broke down and talked to Harry. Severus of all people was writing letters to his son—checking up on health and well-being. It was nerve-wracking and quite horrifying to say the least.

Setting the paper down over Harry's coloring page, Sirius sat across from him to watch his reaction. It wasn't hard to decipher the happiness and joy behind those smoky green eyes. It was much harder to accept the fact that Harry got happy over a letter from _Snape_.

"Daddy wrote to me!" Harry looked up at Sirius, "Can you help me read it?"

Surely the world had fallen from beneath Sirius's feet as Harry said that word? The animagus sure felt as if it did. Maybe his stomach just decided that it had to plummet to his toes at that moment. That could definitely be it. It had to be.

"What…did you say?"

Harry looked at Sirius confused, "Can you help me—"

"Not that!" Sirius snapped. He took a breath and said much calmer, "What did you call…him?"

"…" Harry didn't answer for a moment, "…daddy?"

Oh it was definitely the word being snatched from beneath his feet. Sirius was sure about it this time. His son…his _son_ just called Snape his "daddy"—_Snape_. This couldn't be the same guy they were talking about. Sirius felt like banging his head against the table.

"Harry." He started, "Harry…" He let out a whoosh of breath and cushioned his forehead on his forearms.

Sirius wasn't sure what he wanted to more at that moment. Throttle Snape, throw a tantrum or cry. He was sure that once it had sank in enough, he would be either in the woods or his room throwing a childish tantrum, complete with stamping feet and a red face. How could this happen?

Harry leaned forward and reached out for his mother. When he couldn't quite reach, he stood up in his chair and leaned over the table, "Mommy, are you okay?"

That brought a little vomit to his throat. _Daddy Snape_…He supposed it would be funny—should be funny…but it wasn't. Not when he was included. He was married, albeit inadvertently and only in his son's eyes, to _Snape_ of all people. It was disgusting! He most certainly was _not_ okay. And probably would never be again.

"Mommy?" Harry dragged out the title, "Moooommmmmyyyyyy!"

A shiver ran down Sirius's spine.

"Can you help me read daddy's letter?"

Oh how like a five year old to have such a short attention span! Sirius picked up his head, "Baby…we need to talk about this." He swallowed, "I don't want you writing to that man. Not ever…okay?"

Harry slumped back in his seat with a frown, "Why not? Did daddy make you mad?"

Sirius twitched, "Just don't write him!"

"That's not fair!" Harry ranted, "I want to write daddy! Why are you being so mean?"

Leaning over, Sirius grabbed hold of Harry's shoulders and shook him a little, "Stop that! It's for your own good, okay?"

"No!" Harry pulled from Sirius and slid from the chair with the letter clutched to his chest. "I'm gonna ask Grandpa to help me then."

Sirius scooted his chair back and grabbed Harry as he ran to the door. He cocooned the boy in his arms and rested his head on top of Harry's. He waited a few minuits for Harry to stop kicking before he kissed the top of the dark head.

"Do you love me Harry?"

"O-of course I love you mommy." Harry sniffled, "I always love you."

"Then please trust me when I say that I'm only doing this for you." Sirius tightened his hug, "I'm doing this to protect you."

"But d-daddy would never hurt me." Harry mumbled.

"Maybe not," Sirius acquiesced. It felt like acid spewing from his throat, "But there are others around your…around _Snape_ that would do so gladly."

There was silence and then a mumbled, "Okay, mommy."

Sirius smiled just a bit, though, it didn't escape him that Harry still held on to that letter either.

Harry was in need of two parental figures. Even Sirius knew he could not be both—it couldn't be helped that Harry chose a father Sirius didn't like. He denied Harry the right to write to the other man, but at the end of the week Sirius found his resolve crumbling to pieces at the sight of constantly tear-bright eyes.

Sirius, sadly, was sure he'd never get over this fact—Papa Snape. He knew that he'd never get along with the great bat, and likewise, Snape would think along the same lines. He'd never be able to stand the sight of the animagus. It was too much to ask of them—even from Harry.

With the help of Billy, Sirius allowed Harry to write Snape. He also agreed to curb his thoughts and actions of murder. He had to think of Harry too, after all. The first time wasn't the hardest as most people would think. No, it was hard just letting any letter go to that bastard. The animagus would agree to send the letter off, but would instead take them and hide them away or, in rare instances, trash them. It became so bad that Billy started to help Harry write letters when Sirius was either asleep or in a different room.

Sirius had to allow for the letter exchange to continue no matter how much he hated it. Billy wouldn't give him a chance to send the letters off anymore for fear they would never make it to the place they were supposed to. He hated to see how lit up Harry's face became whenever a letter came in—it was Snape! The only thing Sirius appreciated was that the letters were mostly one-sided since Snape only wrote one letter to every three or four of Harry's.

At one point Billy even forced Sirius to go so far as to offer Snape to come see the boy. It was truly a shame he _regrettably _didn't agree. Sirius couldn't look at Billy in the eyes for a few days after that. It wasn't his fault Snape didn't agree to come…really.

By the time January rolled around, Billy finally got fed up enough and kicked Sirius from the house to find a job. He became a bus boy of sorts at, Sully's, a local Forks diner. He got paid well enough and people gossiped enough so that he could keep his mind off of Harry for a while.

**x.X.x**_ …Was a ride on a carousel of faith…_** x.X.x**

The winter had come and gone and spring was spreading through Forks. Sirius decided he had saved enough to try and start a life of his own. Billy was adamant that he and Harry stay—he'd be heartbroken if they left so soon. He didn't mind them staying in his home. Sirius helped a lot and Jacob had grown fond, even if still a little weary, of him.

Billy's friend Charlie Swan also offered the use of his home to the animagus and his son. Sirius turned it down but allowed for Harry to stay there once in a while for convenience with Jacob. It was better than leaving them in the clutches of some of the roughhousing boys on the reservation.

Sirius decided to stay. Billy was getting old—older than Sirius. His legs had begun to bother him and it made a few things difficult when he couldn't quite keep up with his work, much less his daily tasks. Sirius would look after the boys and do things to make it easier on Billy no matter how much the man tried to make him desist.

This brought Sirius to where he was today. He ran his fingers lightly through his hair and walked down into the kitchen. He could hear nothing coming from the living room but the telly, so he assumed that the boys were still asleep in front of it. He sat down at the table with some coffee.

"Have anything to do today Sirius?" Billy asked over the paper.

Sirius shrugged, "I might take the boys out into Tillicum or something before work. They're pretty restless these days; being so close to summer and all for Jacob."

"They're almost ten. It's to be expected," Billy chortled, "Can you take Jacob with you when you go to work later? The little rugrat is becoming more than I can handle these days."

"Yeah, no problem." Sirius agreed as he grabbed his wallet from the counter. "I'm just going to fire call Harry's…er, _Snape_ right quick."

"Have you ever thought of calling him Harry's _father_?"

"In your dreams." Sirius ground out, "I only need to ask the bastard a favor."

Billy limped toward the stairs, "And you honestly think he's going to grant you this favor?" He let out a gruff laugh, "I'll be surprised if he even came into the room to look at your face."

"Ha bloody ha…" Sirius barked sarcastically, "You're so funny."

"Hn. I'd like to think so."

Sirius snorted and went to the small fireplace in the living room. Like he had guessed before, both Harry and Jacob had fallen asleep in front of the TV. They must have been really bored since it was only eight in the morning. He shook his head and threw in a handful of blue powder.

"Hey Snape!"

Severus's nose scrunched in agitation as he steadily ignored the floo. Where had that mutt located a place to floo him from out there in the middle of nowhere anyway? Then again, Black _was_ known for sheer luck when it suited him. God…the fates must hate Severus. He stirred the potion again and mentally counted down for the next one.

"Snape!" Sirius called again, "Answer your floo…you bloody vampire."

The last part was mumbled but Snape heard it anyway. It wasn't Sirius' business why he liked the dark, so he didn't reply. The Headmaster already nagged him enough like an insolent grandmother—he didn't need a wife, no matter how unwelcome and unsavory, to top that.

"I know you're there you asshole!" Sirius snapped, "Come and open your floo!"

"Go away Black! Don't you bother me enough with those ridiculous letters already?" Snape really didn't want that dog to invade his quarters. It already was asking too much of him to even speak to the dog-father.

"Those were Harry's idea." Sirius pointed out. "And if you don't get over here and let me through this instant, you'll never see Harry again!"

Snape grudgingly trudged into the room with a growl, "What could have possibly made you think I _wanted_ to see that infernal boy?"

"You came, didn't you?"

The Potions master didn't bestow that particular smug comment with a retort, but oh how he wanted to. Why _did_ he come to the fireplace anyway? "What do you want? Be quick, I don't want my rooms to smell like wet mutt."

"Oh har-de-har-har you bloody wanker." Sirius spat, "This _is_ about Harry."

"Isn't it always." Snape grumbled, "Well? Speak and get out of my hair."

"I doubt that could even happen if I got stuck in there in the first place." Sirius mumbled.

"Black!"

"Fine, fine." Sirius grouched, "I was wondering if you could…do me a favor."

"No."

"You didn't even hear my request!"

"I did. You requested a favor and I said no."

"That wasn't—"

Severus stepped up to his floo and cut the connection in the middle of the animagus's words with a biting, "_No_."

Sirius sat back and shook the soot from his hair. He had called Snape in hopes to get Harry the standard children's vaccinations against things like wizard's flu. The school was hounding him about getting Harry vaccinated. It was such a silly concept to Sirius as he never had to get such things done as a child.

Billy had told him that all muggle children got vaccinations for their chicken pox and other minor illnesses. It was so that the entire school didn't get infected should one child get ill. He recommended that Harry get vaccinated by a Healer since muggle diseases reacted differently in magical beings. Thinking on it, Sirius had to agree.

He didn't see any changes in Harry yet, but that didn't mean he was going to wait until his boy got sick either. Harry's magic had pretty much been level for a child. He didn't have very many accidents as a child normally would have—being on an ancient magical reserve helped drain away the excess magic and put a control damper on the rest.

Looking over his shoulder at the two slumbering boys, Sirius crawled over and lay next to Harry. Snape was being no help, and he definitely would not ask Dumbledore. He could ask Remus…but just thinking about the werewolf made his chest ache. He couldn't trust the wolf.

Augusta was definitely out of the question, even if Neville was the same age as Harry. She'd probably stomp on his face if it appeared in her fireplace. All of the teachers and staff of Hogwarts were bound to the headmaster and he couldn't trust any healer at St. Mungo's to keep quiet. Everyone he knew from his past was either dead or had turned on him.

What a tight situation he'd found himself in. Even that rat—Peter—was gone because of stupidity. Maybe he'd take a little nap on it. A name of someone he could trust would surly come to him after some rest. Pulling Harry close, Sirius drifted off.

It was only twenty minuits later that Billy woke him. He was going to be late for work.

**x.X.x**_ …Then he flew away…_** x.X.x**

Officer Swan walked into the diners after work. It had been a long day and he just wanted to eat and go home. His daughter was supposed to visit, but he wasn't quite sure which month she was going to come. Renee was never clear on that type of thing before she just shipped Bella over to him. He didn't mind, he just had to clean the house a bit before she came. He always felt that his responsibility to obligations came first—probably why Renee up and left him.

Taking his usual seat, Charlie scanned the room. All thoughts of his ex-wife flew out of his head as he spotted Billy's cousin. He'd met the man first, just a bit before Adsila's funeral. He remembered cleaning a wound on the other man. Sirius had come all the way from England with just the clothes on his back and a baby boy in his arms.

He waited until Sirius spotted him and waved.

"Hey, Charlie—the usual?" Sirius called to the man.

"Sure."

"It'll be just a moment."

"Thanks."

Sirius hummed and danced back into the kitchen. Despite all his effort not to, Charlie couldn't help but to follow the sway of the other man's hips as he danced to the soft tunes coming from the speakers in the room. Catching himself, Charlie snagged one of the table menus and buried his face and thoughts in the pictures and words.

"Here you are: medium rare steak and buttered red-skin potatoes."

Charlie coughed to cover his discomfort and place the menu aside, "Thank you."

Sirius snorted, "Please, Charlie. We've been friends for a while. No need to be so formal."

A smile tugged at the officer's lips, "Alright then." He grabbed his silverware, "How're the boys doing?"

"Active." Sirius said after a moment, "You better be prepared for Tarzan and Jane this summer. They're such a handful!" He laughed.

Charlie frowned a bit, "And here I thought troubles only stayed in the single digits."

"Tell me about it. Terrible twos, troublesome threes, fearsome fours, frivolous fives…" Sirius sighed, "They should carry it all the way out to their teens!"

Both men laughed as Sirius moved to wipe down an empty table. It was near the end of the day and dinnertime. Most people in the diner at this time were usually those who wanted a quick dinner or people who normally didn't cook.

"So, I take it you still don't trust the other boys to watch Harry and Jake." Charlie commented.

"Please!" The animagus snorted out loud, "I wouldn't trust Sam with a ten foot pole. Leah's a growing girl and therefore placing her impressionable self with those just as impressionable boys is definitely not worth my time."

"What about the other kids' parents?"

"Well…I suppose Quil's would be okay. She would take them to QDC with her…but add that up with Paul, Embry…"

"An accident waiting to happen." Charlie finished.

"Exactly!" Sirius poured the man another coke, "Billy doesn't believe me, but I know the other mothers will definitely agree with me too."

Charlie nodded and took a few gulps of his cup. He listened to Sirius talk a little more and watched the other man clean around the place. It was small enough that even if Sirius was on the other side of the diner, Charlie could still hear him.

Since high school, the officer never fancied himself with another man. He'd married his high school sweetheart and had a child, after all. It wasn't that he was opposed to it—not at all, he just never thought of it before, he supposed. But ever since Sirius Black had come along, he'd found himself thinking about it more often.

He'd watched the sad and broken man become the man he saw today. Sirius was still a bit too thin and his eyes still more than a bit shadowed, but he was getting better. He would never be quite average as Charlie again, but he would be strong. He was even smiling a lot more than he had when he had first come, even if they were very brief each time.

"How about I take the boys off your hands for the summer?" Charlie said, "I can watch them until you come and get them after dinner."

"You'd do that?" The animagus asked skeptically, "Those little monsters will keep you on your toes all day. They'll probably drive Isabella mad."

"Nah," The officer waved the concern off, "They'll have a whole Police Office looking after them and Bella isn't here the second month. They'll be fine."

"If you're sure…"

The officer waved his hand again. "I could always drop them off here—"

Sirius cut him off, "I'll be lucky if I don't get fired! The boys are wreaking havoc back there as we speak. The head cook is furious."

As those words spilled from the animagus's lips, as if to prove him right, a crash sounding like a pile of pans hitting the floor spilled from the kitchen in the back. It made Charlie waver in his hasty decision to look after the boys, but he stood firm, "Then I'll drop them by the house when your shift is over."

Speechless, Sirius didn't know what to say for a moment, "Thank you, Charlie! This—I don't know how to repay you!"

"Have dinner with me." Charlie blurted.

Sirius choked, "What?"

He'd not really meant to say that, but he soldiered on, "Will you have dinner with me?"

Sirius took one look into those weary chocolate eyes and found that he couldn't say no.

**x.X.x**_ …He travelled far through his worn out mind…_** x.X.x**

It was the start of a beautiful, romantic relationship…or as beautiful and romantic as one could get with a child, and in Sirius's case, two children. The year had come and gone and it was once again a rainy spring.

The winter earlier, Billy had lost his legs to illness. Jacob had become more of Sirius's ward so that Billy could have time to recover, but the stubborn man wouldn't let them treat him as if he was invalid. He still looked after the boys as he normally would, but he also learned when to concede to defeat. Boys in adolescence were a complete horror.

Sirius had begun to spend a lot of time with Charlie, since his daughter stopped coming to visit, much to the amusement of his cousin. They didn't exactly go out on dates, but spent a lot of time in one another's company when Charlie would come over to see his best friend. Billy didn't deny that it made him happy to see Sirius doing much better than he had when he arrived.

It had been a complete and absolute hell when Sirius decided to tell Charlie about magic. The issue might never have come up if it were not for one of those rare moments when Harry did accidental magic. Despite the fact that the officer didn't talk to anyone for an hour after the incident, Charlie didn't seem to mind and in fact was rather interested in learning more about magic.

If Sirius were honest about things, he had left out quite a bit about his and Harry's past. He either glazed over them or twisted it up to make it sound better than it was. From some of the looks Charlie shot him afterwards, he guessed that the other man knew the truth and knew Sirius was lying. He never said anything about it, so Sirius just left it alone.

Harry had taken to Charlie quite well much to Sirius's joy. He didn't mind going back and forth from Billy's house to Charlie's house. He didn't question when they stayed over at Charlie's or even when his mum stayed over there and left him with Billy. Today was one of the rare times that Sirius had convinced Charlie to stay with him at Billy's after dinner.

"Mom! Mom…come on, wake up!"

Sirius grumbled and rolled over, burying his face into the blankets, "Ugh…your son is awake…"

Charlie mumbled incoherently and rolled over to bury his face in Sirius's hair, "Mmm, before sunrise, he's _your_ son…"

"Mommy!" The door to the room creaked open and a thin adolescent body dropped onto Charlie. He grunted at the impact and nestled tighter to Sirius, "Come on, you promised that we could go. Jacob just told me a few minuits ago that they were gonna be leaving soon…we gotta go get Charlie!"

"Leaving? Where are they going?"

Sirius snorted into the pillow, "You're all supposed to go fishing today."

Charlie sighed into his lover's hair and sat up slowly, "Alright, alright. I'm up."

"Oh…" Harry rolled off of Charlie and into the bed between the officer and Sirius, "You're already here…" He looked a bit uncertain before he pushed at the cop, "Well come on then! They're gonna leave us!"

"Aren't you a little too old to be jumping into my bed young man?" Sirius yawned and sat up as Charlie exited the bed well naturedly.

Harry shrugged and hugged a pillow, "Nope."

Sirius sighed and pulled Harry close, "Harry…"

"It's okay mommy," Harry interrupted, "I still love you."

Chuckling, the animagus tickled Harry's sides. He fought the fingers before squealing out his defeat. Sirius grinned and kissed Harry on his head. "You'll always be my number one, Harry. Don't you ever forget that."

"I promise."

"Good." Sirius gave Harry a little push from the bed, "Now you go and get ready as well." He watched Harry bound from the room, "And be sure to dress in something Snape-appropriate!"

Charlie walked back into the room running his fingers through his hair to comb it, "You're taking him for his check-up today?"

Sirius nodded and crawled from the bed, "Well, that and the fact that Snape sent me an urgent missive just last night."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. He wanted to talk to me about something that had to do with one of his students. Some stupid family thing—again."

Charlie chuckled, "Magical folk seem to be very strict when it comes to family matters."

"That's us—all about family." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Well," Charlie pulled his lover up from the bed, "Let's get going before Billy really _does_ leave us. I'll never hear the end of it from Harry."

Sirius laughed.

The small trip went over well. Though they hadn't caught many fish, mostly due to both Jacob and Harry playing with the bait, they went home with happy smiles on their faces. Surprisingly, it hadn't rained. The sun even shined a little, even if it disappeared after only a few minuits.

There had been only one incident where Jacob almost fell from the old docks. If it hadn't been for Charlie catching him by his shirt, the poor boy would have fallen in backwards. Harry had been in stitches about it, but he kissed the other boy just as many times as he laughed, to make up for each one.

Those kisses took quite a bit of explanation. They didn't mind, really, but Sirius thought again about the merits of leaving Harry with Snape. He didn't think Snape would _do_ anything to Harry, but he probably wouldn't _stop_ Harry from doing it either. Though, he had to admit, this kissing thing probably was to blame on his cousin more. She was never took things literally unless they were spelled out for her.

Sirius took a few photos while they were fishing as well. He didn't have many of his own, but he did see that before she died, Adsila had taken the time to take and develop some photos of him and baby Harry for their photo album.

After returning home and getting Harry cleaned up for a visit with Snape, they left. Harry was going for a check-up with Draco, but Sirius was determined to get him treated to any future maladies that may come about later.

**x.X.x**_ …Through sorrow and pain, what had he gained…_** x.X.x**

Harry squealed with delight when they arrived in Snape's sitting room. He would later deny that he had, very vehemently, but Sirius stored the moment away to tease Snape with later. It was the first time he had been here since they had left a couple years earlier. This wasn't Hogwarts, but the floo in Snape's home was probably rigged.

They had arrived early evening by portkey. While they were usually traceable, Snape had made sure to get them one with fluke coordinates that made the key's trail die somewhere in France. Though he'd never admit it, Sirius appreciated the paranoia even if it was more about Harry's safety than his own.

"Oh Merlin," A snarky voice hissed, "You just _had_ to take my offer seriously."

Sirius growled, "I wasn't about to let him travel by portkey alone, you bastard. He might have let go…or you could have sent us straight to Albus."

"How do you know he isn't here right now?"

"Don't fuck with me, Snape." Sirius snapped, "I'm _only_ _just_ putting up with you for Harry's sake."

Snape sniffed, "And where _is_ the little cretin?"

"He's right…" Sirius turned to where he'd last seen Harry. The spot was suspiciously empty as the room was quiet. "He _was_ right here."

"You _lost_ him?" Snape growled menacingly, "In _my_ abode?"

"You make it sound as if this bat cave is welcoming…" Sirius grimly mumbled to himself. If the animagus didn't know any better, he'd say Snape was kind of anxious and fearful of the notion that Harry is unsupervised in his house. Not that he didn't have every right to be. Harry was a pure menace when left alone, point blank. He wasn't about to mourn over the fact that it was Snape's home in question though.

"_Find him_, you idiotic lout!" Severus hissed. "I have potions brewing in the lab!"

"He wouldn't go into your disgusting lab, Sniv—" Sirius's words were cut off as the rain of broken china sounded from the kitchen.

Both adults dropped their pointless argument with each other in favor of seeing that Harry was alright. Though, a spiteful thought that Snape was probably more worried about his china skimmed the surface of Sirius's thoughts.

Harry was standing at the stove, just barely holding on to a hot tea kettle. He was glaring over at Malfoy's little snot of a son, Draco, who had his arms crossed over his chest and an indignant look on his face. His cheeks were inflamed.

"Draco!" Harry said angrily, "I told you to be careful!"

"I didn't do it!" The blond boy snapped.

"You're right," Harry replied caustically, "The cups just decided they would be better off on the floor in pieces rather than on the tray."

"That's right!" Draco said bitterly, "This is servant's work!"

Harry set the kettle on the floor and muttered, "Pompous git."

"Harry!" Both Snape and Sirius snapped at the same time. They glared at one another. Snape hissed and was the first to turn away, disgusted. Sirius sneered nastily and motioned to Harry, "Leave that there and come here. Let's just get that check up so we can leave."

"And out of my hair," Snape muttered, "Certainly can't have you rubbing that abominable incompetence off on Draco."

"Of course," Sirius replied smoothly, "Having that atrocious godson is enough for anyone."

Snape glared but didn't say anything.

**x.X.x**_ …Still his dreams they could never take away…_** x.X.x**

Sirius sighed and let himself fall on Charlie's couch. The other man had taken one look at him, when he and Harry showed up at his door, and went into the kitchen to fix them both a cup. Sirius gratefully took the warm mug that the officer gave him as he sat. Harry had run off to his room upstairs.

"Wanna talk about it?"

The animagus took a slow sip from his cup and frowned. "Well…" He sat the mug on the coffee table and sat back. "Do you remember that other boy I told you about—Neville?" Charlie nodded, "Well, his grandmother had dropped him at the school the other day."

"It's summer." Charlie stated.

Sirius bit his lip, "I know."

"She just left him there?" Charlie asked incredulously, "Well, who's going to look after that lad now?"

Sirius shifted in his seat a little and turned towards the other man. He kept his head down and wrung his hands, "Snape said…well I…that's kinda what I wanted to talk to you about…"

Charlie wasn't a stupid or oblivious man despite what some people might say. Sirius wouldn't look at him and he was nervously wringing his hands. It reminded him about the first time the other man had tried to explain magic to him. Or when Renee left.

Placing his mug on the table next to Sirius's he gently tipped that man's head up. "How long?"

Sirius winced, "Perhaps a month? They'll locate other relatives that'll take him."

"What did Billy say?"

"He…we can't stay there anymore." Sirius hesitated, "Quil…doesn't like Neville very much."

There was something else and Charlie pressed, "Why did she leave him there?"

This time, Sirius pulled away and looked at his hands. He almost whispered his response, "He was bitten…"

"Should I be worried?"

Turning back quickly, Sirius grabbed onto the officer's shirt. His eyes were pleading, "No! He wouldn't hurt a fly! I think he's more afraid of it than anyone else."

"Well…Harry practically lives in that second bedroom up there." Charlie ran his fingers through Sirius's hair, "I'm sure some extra company won't hurt me."

"You'll be sure to send him off to school then?"

"I'll see him off every day."

"And what he'll eat—his clothes!" Sirius leapt up.

Charlie chuckled and gently pushed Sirius back into his chair, "I've got it covered. He's got everything he'll need until you come back."

"I know that, but…"

The officer didn't let Sirius finish his sentence and instead pulled the other man into his arms. They didn't say anything to one another and didn't even notice the barely audible steps as Harry crept back up to his room.

It probably should have worried at least one of them even a little that they could decipher one another's half sentences and hesitancies. It probably should have worried them that things seemed to progress so fast.

But it didn't.

**x.X.x**_ …So he flew into the sun again…_** x.X.x**

"Jake, Jake!" Harry leapt onto the other boy who created a small lump in the quilts.

Even at the age of twelve, both boys continued to have "sleepovers" with one another. Both Charlie and Billy saw it as a way to get the boys together and out of harm's way for a while. Billy could have a couple of nights off and Harry could have some company while Charlie worked. The officer never left them home alone, of course, but he still had papers to read through. It was nice for Harry to have someone to play with so he wouldn't get bored.

Jacob sat up with a start and nearly rammed heads with his smaller companion. As it was, he merely tumbled Harry to straddle his shins. "What? Huh?"

"Mom's home!" Harry said excitedly.

The Quileute looked at Harry blankly. When Harry began to frown, Jacob's lips twitched and he quickly kissed the frown away. Harry laughed and grasped a pillow to attempt to smother his laughing brother with. Jacob lightly shoved the boy away.

"Aright! Let's go see!"

Harry rolled off the bed to the floor and righted himself, "Race you!"

Charlie sighed as Sirius sat up from leaning against him. They had a few quiet minuits earlier before the boys awoke, but the officer couldn't help but wish it was a bit more. He missed Sirius. They could hear the thumping patter down the stairs and Sirius prepared himself for a hearty welcome from his Harry.

He'd been gone for more than the estimated time of three months and was happy to be home. Finding a home for Neville was long and tedious. No one wanted a dhampir in their midst, even if—technically—Neville was turned into a halfling and not born a halfling.

With only Snape—the disgusting bat—as a companion, it was a long, tiresome, tedious chore. It was only by chance that they had stumbled across a vampire coven in Italy. Snape had caught one of the creatures having a quick meal. They didn't stick around to see how big it actually was, but they had dropped Neville in the large walled city and left.

Months later, Sirius was anxious to hold his baby in his arms again. Touching Alice's boy left him feeling dirty and slightly nauseous. On his way home, he'd contemplated going back and leaving Neville with his parents, but it was too late now.

"Mommy!"

Sirius soon found himself with an armful of excited boy. He smiled down at Harry as he wrapped him tightly in his arms, "Hey there, baby."

"I missed you!" Harry babbled, "Jacob came over a lot while you were gone—did you know that we're not in the same class anymore?"

The animagus laughed and gently tugged Jacob into a brief one-handed hug. He let the boy go quickly and went back to fully occupying his hands with his son. Jacob didn't seem put out. He looked just as uncomfortable with the hug as Sirius did.

Sirius stroked the still baby soft hair from Harry's forehead, "Were you a good boy for Charlie?" Then he seemed to catch the last of Harry's words and looked up at the officer in question, "You aren't in the same class?"

"I was good!" Harry replied huffily, "And I learned how to cook and fix my sheets…"

Charlie could easily tell when Sirius droned out Harry's babble and spoke up, "I enrolled Harry into Forks Elementary. I needed him closer to home." He shifted uncomfortably at the gratitude that bled into the other man's eyes. "How about I go make some breakfast, hm? Want to help me Jacob? I have no idea what I'm doing aside from toast and jelly."

"Yeah!" Jacob ran into the kitchen.

"All right?" Charlie asked.

A small smile and nod were all he got before Sirius tuned back into Harry's words and gently cut the boy off. "Harry, I've got something for you."

"Hm?"

Staring intently at his boy, Sirius took note of everything—every bump, bruise and cut. There were barely any except for the long faded white jagged scar on his forehead. It was impossible for anyone to see, but Sirius could see it, because he knew it sat boldly there before.

Harry was definitely growing into his skin. He looked willowy already—definitely Regulus's build—from his father's side of the family. His hair was a tamed bed-mess. While it would look nice combed, Harry rarely ever wore it combed unless someone else did it for him.

Big smoky green eyes blinked curiously up at him, "Mom?"

Sirius shook his head a little and smiled, "Look here." He pulled out a necklace he'd never allowed himself to look at before. The chain was fixed up, but the necklace itself still had the odd bits of blood still sticking to inner surfaces that would never come out. It was probably for the best.

The pendant was small and shaped into a vague shape of the fierce lion on the Gryffindor Hogwarts emblem. The eye of the lion, which used to be a beautiful sapphire, was now a tainted violet color—one of the places where the blood had stained. On the back, was Alice's name, finely engraved into the metal.

Gently stroking the still sleep-warm neck, Sirius clasped the charm around Harry's neck, "This was given to me by a dear friend of mine…" He watched somberly as Harry picked up the charm and studied it in awe, "She…would have loved for you to have it."

"It's so pretty! Are you sure I can keep this?"

Sirius scooped Harry into his arms and tugged the unresisting boy into his lap, "Of course you can. She meant for you to have this when I saw fit. And…" Sirius stared out into the distance, like he was looking into the past or into a very real future, "I think you're old enough to handle the responsibility now."

And if a great weight lifted from Sirius's shoulders as Harry hugged him tightly, well, that was just a bonus.

**x.X.x**_ …Emptiness struck as he realized…_** x.X.x**

"Here you go sweetie." The kindly baker gave him one of her specially made hot sweet buns, "You're such a sweet boy. You'd better hurry on home now though. And happy birthday!"

Harry smiled and nodded, "Yes ma'am, thank you very much!"

Skipping along the walk, Harry headed to the street. Sirius was at work again and Harry didn't really want to bother his mother. Charlie would be at the station, but most likely not that busy as it was generally slow in the winter. The icy weather made drivers extremely cautious on the slick roads.

A quick decision and he decided he would visit Charlie, and perhaps bring him some of the coffee and pastries he loved so much. No one could make coffee like his mother, but Harry was pretty sure he came close.

He suddenly got the feeling that he was being watched. Being followed and watched kinda go hand in hand, but he didn't have the impression that anyone was following him—especially since there was only one set of footprints in the snow.

Shrugging, Harry continued down the road. He stopped at the road that would take him down to the police department a shorter way than if he went from the first road down by the coffee shop. He stood there only moments before yawning and continuing.

"Hey, Anise!"

Harry looked up at the familiar endearment. Jacob stood just a bit further down the road and was waving his arms. Harry let out a puff of air and smiled. He shifted everything to one arm and waved back. Jacob must have noticed for he ran towards Harry.

The younger boy wore a simple button up over a tee shirt, jeans and a semi-weighted jacket that wasn't even zipped up. Harry envied the younger boy as he himself was bundled up in a heavy winter coat, gloves and a scarf to temper the cold. He got cold easily. It was probably hereditary as Sirius often bundled up as well.

Jacob took the coffee cups that balanced precariously over Harry's arm. "What took you so long? I was waiting for a while. Do you know how cold it is?"

"Then you should zip up your coat you ruffian!" Harry snapped playfully, "Anyway, I told you that if I took too long, you could have gone ahead without me."

The Quileute boy laughed and shook his head. "Well, you're here now. Let's go!"

Harry nodded and watched as Jacob took off before him. He started after the other boy at a slower pace. He laughed as he watched the younger boy run back and forth across the street. Jacob motioned to him, and giving in, ran across the street to the other boy. It felt nice to be running even if he'll pay for it with wheezes and much redder cheeks later.

It was the sound of speeding cars that dragged Harry from his thoughts. He turned in time to see a black Mercedes speed past him. It brought a gust of wind past him, pulling him forward after the car and further into the street.

Jacob shouted in outrage, "Hey! Watch where you're going!" He ran towards Harry, glancing backwards, "And slow down! These roads are dangerous!"

A car horn sounded behind him and Harry leapt a foot in the air just as Jacob swung an arm around him. The Quileute turned quickly and kicked out. The Volvo came to a screeching halt and Jacob's foot in contact with the car, shoving him back a little from where he stood. He felt quite good that he hadn't lost his balance and fell over, though he couldn't say the same for the crouching figure of his brother.

He slid his foot to the ground, leaving a small mark on the car. He thought about trying to wipe it off, but decided that they probably deserved it to be there. "Anise, you alright?"

Trembling hands slid from the top of Harry's head as he looked up. "J-Jake…?" Jacob took the shaking hand and slid them out of the way of the car. He didn't feel even a little bit guilty about leaving the mark on the car.

The car sped off, but not before Jacob caught sight of a black-haired girl with brown eyes smiling at them. The Volvo was followed by two other new looking cars. One was a convertible and the other was a rather large jeep. All too suddenly, the non-remorseful feeling vanished and was replaced by indignant anger, "You jerk!"

After letting Harry pull himself together from the shock, they both continued on. "The nerve of some people!"

"They're probably not natives, Ani." Jacob mused, "Those were some pretty conspicuous cars for a dreary town like this."

Harry laughed, "They'll stick out like sore thumbs. I bet people will talk about this for months!" It was then that Harry took in Jacob's empty hands. They weren't empty per se, but the tray he was holding was. "Jake…where did those coffees go?"

"They're right…oh." The Quileute laughed nervously, "I'll just run back and get one for Charlie, huh? You go on ahead. I'll only be a moment…not forever like you. If I hadn't taken so many baths with you as a kid, I'd swear you were a woman!"

Harry's mouth dropped in indignation as he flung snow at his brother's retreating figure. "You're an ass, Jacob Black!"

**x.X.x**_ …There's no answers to 'Who am I? What am I?'…_** x.X.x**

As Harry approached the police department, he noticed the Mercedes that had sped past he and Jake on the street in the parking lot. He ran up to the building, pausing to look for the car Jake had kicked—to try and wipe the mark off. It was just a spot away. He felt mildly remorseful since he and Jacob were in the wrong by being on the street instead of the sidewalk. Charlie would give them a good talking to if—when—he found out.

Looking around for something to scrub at the mark with, Harry found nothing and instead pulled out a kerchief. His initials were embroidered into a corner haphazardly; making the whole cloth look strange, but it was his mother's first attempt and loved it no less. Wetting a corner with his mouth and a bit of snow from the ground, Harry began the task of wiping away what he could.

"What are you doing?" A kindly voice queried.

Thinking it was one of the locals, Harry scoffed and licked a clean corner of the kerchief and answered kindly, "I was trying to get the mark off of this car."

Whoever it was knelt down next to Harry to examine the scuffmark. His presence was cool but not unkind and curiously, Harry turned to look. The man looked young. He had golden yellow hair that was combed neatly from his face and kind honeyed eyes. The man was dressed smartly and looked extremely handsome altogether.

"It's just a little scratch, no harm done."

Harry gasped—a light flush on his cheeks, "Is this your car? I'm so sorry!"

The man laughed. It sent a shiver down Harry's spine as he replied, "No. That's not my car. It belongs to my son."

"Still…I really _am_ sorry. After all, it was my brother and I who were at fault for walking out in the street in the first place."

"As I've said before: no harm done. I hope you and your brother are okay. No injuries?"

"Oh, no—we're fine!" Harry squeaked. He knew that his cheeks were bright red from more than just the cold, "We just got a little fright."

The man chuckled, "Indeed. But I must insist you head inside. Your cheeks are turning quite heated."

"O-of course!" It was quite a relief to Harry that the man assumed it was the cold weather. Both he and his companion stood; the latter dusting off his pants legs.

"Harry?"

Said boy almost leapt a foot into the air, "Charlie!"

"What…where's Jacob? He went back to go and get you."

"Well…"

Charlie crossed his arms over his chest and cleared his throat, "At least tell me that I don't have to report anything serious to…your mother." Charlie winced at the almost pun.

Harry toed the ground sheepishly, "No…?"

"Of course, because that question sounds very reassuring." The officer shook his head and turned back to the other man, "I'll have your stickers mailed out by the end of the week. Feel free to drop by any day after Thursday to pick them up early, though."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you Officer Swan."

"No problem. Drive safe—these roads are a safety hazard in winter."

"Alright. Thank you."

"No problem." Charlie swatted Harry into the door and quickly followed him inside.

**x.X.x**_ …He then saw why men must construct for themselves…_** x.X.x**

"What was that all about?" Harry set the snack he'd brought for Charlie on the man's desk, "I didn't know you guys gave out stickers. I thought only the hospital's pediatric department did?"

"Not those kinds of stickers, Harry." Charlie looked into the bag and motioned for the boy to sit, "It was his license tag sticker."

"Oh, well that's Nowhere, USA for you."

Charlie chuckled, "Go bother someone else while I finish up these papers. Don't you have homework or something?"

"I did all of it already!" Harry pouted. She spun around in the office chair he sat in. Charlie was the only officer to have two of them in his office because it mostly kept Harry out of trouble for hours. The boy could amuse himself with the smallest of joys.

Harry scooted his chair easily over to the front of Charlie's desk. He pulled himself to tuck right to the front of the desk after he'd pulled his feet up into the seat. Leaning forward, Harry tinkered with the many figurines and ornaments that amassed over the years of having the same desk. He was just playing with one of his old catapult toys from a play set he used to own when a thought hit him.

"I didn't ask that man who he was."

"What?" Charlie absently brushed away small paper balls from the report he was filling out. Harry had been flinging them for the past thirty minuits. It didn't bother him, but they did seem to gather around the place he was currently working on, "Are you talking about Mr. Cullen?"

"Is that his name?" Harry hummed and reloaded his catapult, "You'll probably catch him speeding one day. Or his son. If you catch his son, you should give him a huge ticket." Harry nodded, "With restrictions."

"A big ticket with restrictions, huh?" Charlie chucked and rested his head on a fist, watching Harry now try to land the paper balls into the trashcan along the wall by his desk.

"Yeah." Harry laughed happily at the thought and continued to flick tiny paper balls at the trash.

The officer watched Harry solemnly and was taken a bit by surprise at the warm happiness that welled in his chest. It was a foreign feeling to associate with Harry and just as the feeling passed, a foreign thought passed through his head that made him sit back. The thought briefly entertained the idea of Harry staying this happy for as long as he lived.

The feelings and thoughts weren't his own, but they didn't feel malicious. He leaned back into his hands and smiled just a little. Maybe it was magic.

**x.X.x**_ …A cloud of unknowing…_** x.X.x**

**

* * *

**

**Lexicon:**

Word_**/**_Tribe_**/**_Meaning

**ASHKII**: Navajo: "boy"

**HONIAHAKA**: Cheyenne: "little wolf"

**SHIYE**: Navajo: "son"

**SHIZHE'E**: Navajo: "father."

**BILAGAANA**: Navajo: "white person."

**CIQALA**: Dakota: "little one."

**SICHEII**: Navajo: "grandfather."

**SHILAH**: Navajo: "brother."

**WEMILAT**: N/A: of wealthy parents

**KACHADA**: Hopi: "white man."

* * *

**You don't have to read beyond this point.  
**

This list is numbered by the order in which each was revealed in the story since I didn't mark them. I used a map and guesstimated mile time between places so I apologize (to diehards) if I got some things wrong.

[1] Sybil - If you'll notice a huge time scramble I did here. I didn't state a specific date so that it won't be noticed, but Sybil was born in 1963 or quite possibly a bit earlier, so maybe around the time Sirius was being born. I made it where she was born earlier (Billy was born in the 50s) and hinted that she was out of the way of attending Hogwarts.

[2] Sully's Drive-In is a real restaurants in Forks. They serve steak and since Charlie enjoys steak, I'd fathom that he'd find Sirius working there. It's closer and more convenient than making him work in Port Angeles or Seattle with no transportation. Billy's got that old truck, but it's worn down and Jacob hasn't fixed up yet. The Rabbit is still mostly demolished.

[3] Tillicum Park is a real park in Forks. It has a display of one of a very few Shay engines (1959) remaining in Washington.

[4] Quileute Day Care (QDC) is a real day care in La Push. They only have two schools on La Push: The Day care and pre-school and the K-12 Quileute Tribal School (QTS). Harry never attended the day care or pre-schooling. He'd be inseparable from Sirius at the time. I'd also like to point out that at that moment in time, when Sirius and Charlie are talking over dinner, Harry and Jacob would be too old to attend the day care. They would be in QTS.

[5] I've changed Harry's birthday from summers' end to winter. I never really went back to see if Harry was a year old when his parents were killed or if it was just early the next year. I changed his birthday to match around the time that Sirius had officially made Harry his son. So in a way, Harry died and was "born" again.

[6] There were 3 vehicle licensing and 1 driver's examining stations in Forks. The Police Department is the only DMV in the immediate vicinity of the Town of Forks. The other two are located about halfway to Port Angeles and one is _in_ Port Angeles. So being touchy about location I chose the Police department since its right down the street from the Olympic National Park.

[7] Those random feelings Charlie had will be explained as the story progresses. They really weren't his own. It would be best if you thought of it like Charlie: magic.


End file.
